Source: TechCrunch
Amazon and Microsoft's decision to negotiate data center deals without nondisclosure agreements removes one barrier to host communities' scrutiny of their terms, but doesn't address the underlying power asymmetry—governments still lack independent technical expertise to evaluate infrastructure footprints, water usage, or grid strain. The move is less about building trust than reducing political friction as data center siting grows electorally contentious, particularly in rural areas now confronting the environmental and infrastructure costs of hyperscaler compute demand.