Amazon promises to spend $1 billion on communities close to its data centers, but critics push back

What happened

AWS CEO Matt Garman said in a company blog post that it will allocate $1 billion over five years to key issues that data center (a building full of computers that runs online services) communities raised, including education, workforce pathways, energy affordability, and more. Amazon announced a new community program called “Built Together,” where the company promised to invest $1 billion over the next five years on data center communities.

This amounts to grants of $200 million annually, even as the company allocates $220 billion on data center infrastructure for 2026. He said that Amazon is focusing on three key issues that matter most to residents living near its data centers: education and workforce pathways, community energy affordability and water solutions, and flexible funding for local priorities with communities in the lead.

Key facts

• Amazon — announced: a new community program called “Built Together,” where the company promised to invest $1 billion over the next five years on data center communities