TechCrunch reported on 9 October that Amazon says it will stop using NDAs when it negotiates data center deals with local governments. An NDA is a contract that bars people from sharing details. TechCrunch said Microsoft made a similar move earlier this year. It said secrecy has fed community anger over AI infrastructure. That opposition has led to hundreds of moratoriums, both proposed and enacted, in places from New York to San Francisco. A moratorium is a pause on new projects.
TechCrunch's Equity podcast hosts discuss whether dropping NDAs will change how these deals get done. The answer is not yet known. TechCrunch gives no date for when Amazon's change takes effect. It does not say whether the change covers deals already signed. It also does not say whether the move will calm local opposition or reverse any moratorium. Details of Microsoft's earlier change are not given either.
For teams that build, run or buy cloud and AI software, data center capacity depends on local approval. TechCrunch links secrecy to hundreds of moratoriums. So how big providers deal with local governments is now part of where new capacity can be built.