Three Amazon employees on Wednesday publicly called for regulations on new data centers, telling elected officials in Seattle that unchecked development of the sharply disputed nerve centers of AI threatens the region’s environment, economy, and safety.
“Local governments, in collaboration with community stakeholders, should be setting the terms for data center buildout,” Amazon senior software engineer Liesl Wigand said at a city hearing. “Let’s not let Big Tech burn Seattle to win the AI race.”
The comments by Wigand and two other Amazon software engineers mark a significant escalation in the protest movement across the US against the rapid construction of data centers over the past couple of years. While workers at several big tech companies, including Amazon, have complained about the negative effects of data centers and the need for greater oversight, none are believed to have done so as publicly and explicitly before, according to labor organizers supporting the effort in Seattle.
Patrick Schloesser, who has worked at Amazon for nearly six years, said that data centers should have to supply more renewable energy than they consume and provide power storage to support the broader electricity grid. Schloesser also called for new taxes on tech companies and “worker-led safety committees that report to the city” about any AI tools that are “becoming a risk” to Seattle. Tech companies are desperate to get data centers built, giving Seattle leverage to extract concessions from them, Schloesser said.
Another engineer, Darius Irani, suggested during a separate committee hearing later on Wednesday that the city should require transparency about the companies behind particular projects and their ongoing water and electricity usage. “There’s a world in which more data centers could bring us closer to a good future, but it will exist only if we dream big and keep power in the hands of the people,” Irani said.
Tech companies and real estate developers have announced plans to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to construct dozens of data centers across the US to support surging demand for artificial intelligence chatbots and other generative AI technologies. Communities in nearly every state have organized against the projects, citing concerns about electricity and water usage, toxic waste, noxious emissions, noise, tax breaks, and whether AI is even a technology worth advancing.
“We respect our colleagues’ right to voice their opinions. Currently, we don’t have any plans to construct data centers within the Seattle city limits. Across the communities where we do operate data centers, we’re committed to being a responsible neighbor—investing in local economic development while prioritizing water and energy efficiency that exceeds industry standards,” Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan said in a statement. “We engage regularly with community stakeholders to understand local priorities and address concerns transparently, supporting both technological innovation and the specific needs of each region where we operate.”
Other tech giants, including Microsoft and Google, have recently tried to preempt backlash to their data center projects and get ahead of potential regulations around the country by strengthening commitments to transparency and environmental protections.
In Seattle, city officials are weighing a one-year pause on issuing permits for data centers to allow time for setting regulations on the projects. Seattle doesn’t currently have any rules specific to data centers, according to city records. The city has said it is home to some small data centers, but that several companies have expressed interest in setting up “large-scale” developments. Their arrival could drive up water and power prices for other residents and increase carbon emissions, with the city currently holding minimal authority to intervene.
