WASHINGTON: Amazon's cloud computing division said on Friday it would invest more than US$1 billion over the next five years in US communities where it has data centers and vowed to tackle their impacts on electricity and water usage.
Data centers, which provide the computing power to train and run AI models, have drawn opposition in communities nationwide over concerns about electricity demand, utility costs and other local impacts. The backlash poses a political challenge for Republicans heading into the US midterm elections on November 3.
Amazon said it had invested US$276 billion in data centers between 2011 and 2025 and had large projects or expansions in the works in many states including Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Mississippi.
