Amazon Says It’s No Longer Using NDAs for Data Centers

亚马逊宣布不再在数据中心项目中使用保密协议 (NDA)

Amazon has made a series of new public commitments to communities where it’s building data centers, including making an official announcement that it no longer uses nondisclosure agreements in its arrangements with county officials. 亚马逊已对其建设数据中心的社区做出了一系列新的公开承诺，其中包括正式宣布在与县级官员的合作安排中不再使用保密协议 (NDA)。

In a blog post published Friday, CEO Matt Garman detailed the steps the company says it’s already taking around data centers. In addition to stopping the use of NDAs, Garman says $1 billion will be invested over the next five years in communities that house the company’s data centers. The money will go toward free community college programs, workforce training, and energy efficiency upgrades for schools, homes, and community buildings. 在周五发布的一篇博客文章中，首席执行官马特·加曼 (Matt Garman) 详细介绍了公司在数据中心方面已经采取的措施。除了停止使用保密协议外，加曼表示，未来五年将向拥有该公司数据中心的社区投资 10 亿美元。这笔资金将用于免费社区大学项目、劳动力培训，以及学校、住宅和社区建筑的能效升级。

In the post, Garman acknowledged how the fierce backlash against data centers across the country is hampering the AI buildout. 在文章中，加曼承认全国范围内对数据中心的强烈抵制正阻碍人工智能 (AI) 的建设。

“Right now there are over 100 data center moratoriums being considered across the country,” he wrote. “If these measures are enacted, the US could be writing its own losing ticket to [the AI] race, and the consequences would last generations. As a country, we can’t afford to find ourselves in that position.” “目前全国有超过 100 项数据中心暂停令正在审议中，”他写道。“如果这些措施付诸实施，美国可能会在（人工智能）竞赛中自断前程，其后果将影响几代人。作为一个国家，我们承担不起陷入那种境地的代价。”

Nondisclosure agreements have become a key point of contention amid the massive data center buildout. Typically, local officials who sign NDAs with data centers looking to develop projects in their area are unable to share information with the public, including the energy and water use of certain projects. Many NDAs bar officials from revealing even basic information—like the tech companies involved in building out the data center. In July, the New York Times reported how secret agreements at all levels of government were crucial in building out plans for Hyperion, its massive data center in Louisiana. 在数据中心大规模建设的过程中，保密协议已成为争议的焦点。通常，与寻求在当地开发项目的数据中心签署保密协议的地方官员无法向公众分享信息，包括特定项目的能源和水资源使用情况。许多保密协议甚至禁止官员透露基本信息，例如参与建设数据中心的技术公司。今年 7 月，《纽约时报》报道称，各级政府签署的秘密协议对于其在路易斯安那州的大型数据中心项目“Hyperion”的规划建设至关重要。

There has been a rush of recent local legislation attempting to address the secretive paperwork. Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, Massachusetts governor Maura Healey, and Delaware governor Matt Meyer have all cracked down on data center NDAs in recent executive orders. Multiple states, including New York, New Jersey, Indiana, and Ohio, have considered recent legislation banning the practice. 近期，各地涌现出大量旨在解决此类秘密文件的地方法规。宾夕法尼亚州州长乔什·夏皮罗 (Josh Shapiro)、马萨诸塞州州长莫拉·希利 (Maura Healey) 和特拉华州州长马特·迈耶 (Matt Meyer) 最近都通过行政命令打击了数据中心保密协议。包括纽约州、新泽西州、印第安纳州和俄亥俄州在内的多个州，近期也都在考虑立法禁止这种做法。

At the federal level, a bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced the No Secrets for Data Centers Act in the House. Earlier this week, Democratic representative Jamie Raskin, one of the bill’s sponsors, sent letters to Amazon, Google, Meta, and Oracle demanding information on their use of data center NDAs; Amazon told The Wall Street Journal that it was no longer using NDAs. (Google, Meta, and Oracle did not return the Journal’s request for comment.) 在联邦层面，一个两党议员小组最近在众议院提出了《数据中心无秘密法案》(No Secrets for Data Centers Act)。本周早些时候，该法案的发起人之一、民主党众议员杰米·拉斯金 (Jamie Raskin) 致信亚马逊、谷歌、Meta 和甲骨文，要求提供有关其使用数据中心保密协议的信息；亚马逊告诉《华尔街日报》，它已不再使用保密协议。（谷歌、Meta 和甲骨文未回复《华尔街日报》的置评请求。）

Amazon has been at the center of some high-profile controversies around NDAs. In Tucson, Arizona, Amazon was revealed last year to be the tenant of a controversial data center thanks to a public records request from a local outlet; an NDA had been in place barring county officials from sharing the identity of the end tenant. (Amazon has since exited that project.) In South Bend, Indiana, where the company has invested more than $13 billion into a massive data center campus, some elected officials have claimed that local government employees have been unable to answer questions about the project due to signing NDAs with the company. 亚马逊一直处于围绕保密协议的一些高调争议的中心。去年，得益于当地媒体的公共记录请求，亚马逊被披露是亚利桑那州图森市一个备受争议的数据中心的租户；此前，一份保密协议禁止县官员透露最终租户的身份。（亚马逊此后已退出该项目。）在印第安纳州南本德市，该公司投资超过 130 亿美元建设了一个大型数据中心园区，一些民选官员声称，由于与该公司签署了保密协议，当地政府雇员无法回答有关该项目的问题。

Thanks to the opaque nature of data center financing and construction, end tenants like Amazon are often not the companies directly interfacing with government officials. As the Houston Chronicle reported last month, a top official in Wharton County, Texas, signed an NDA not with Amazon, but with contractor VisionFirst Advisors, which prevented him from sharing details about the Amazon project. 由于数据中心融资和建设的不透明性，像亚马逊这样的最终租户往往不是直接与政府官员对接的公司。正如《休斯顿纪事报》上个月报道的那样，德克萨斯州沃顿县的一位高级官员签署的保密协议并非与亚马逊签署，而是与承包商 VisionFirst Advisors 签署，这导致他无法分享有关亚马逊项目的细节。

Amazon did not respond to WIRED’s queries about whether the promises around NDAs also extend to its contractors. 亚马逊未回应《连线》(WIRED) 关于保密协议承诺是否也适用于其承包商的询问。

Much of the new blog from Garman is also dedicated to dispelling what he calls “misinformation and outright lies” around data centers and their water use, energy use, the use of diesel generators, and impacts on communities. “This build out is so important geopolitically that there are widespread reports of various countries intentionally seeding misinformation in the US about data centers to trick us into slowing down,” he wrote. 加曼这篇新博客的大部分内容还致力于消除他所称的围绕数据中心及其用水、用电、柴油发电机使用以及对社区影响的“错误信息和彻头彻尾的谎言”。“这种建设在地缘政治上非常重要，以至于有广泛报道称，各国正在美国故意散布有关数据中心的错误信息，以诱骗我们放慢速度，”他写道。

As WIRED has reported, the idea that China is intentionally seeding widespread dissent and misinformation around data centers is a consistent message coming from the White House and tech leaders. Experts, however, say that this narrative is widely overblown, and that there is little evidence of Chinese misinformation driving the data center backlash. 正如《连线》所报道的那样，关于中国正在故意散布围绕数据中心的广泛异议和错误信息的观点，是来自白宫和科技领袖的一贯论调。然而，专家们表示，这种说法被严重夸大了，几乎没有证据表明中国的错误信息是导致数据中心遭到抵制的原因。