Amazon recently followed Microsoft’s lead by announcing it will no longer use nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) when negotiating with local governments regarding data center projects.
On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Sean O’Kane, Rebecca Bellan, and Anthony Ha discussed Amazon’s announcement, which was part of a blog post arguing that data centers are beneficial for communities.
Rebecca Bellan expressed skepticism regarding the impact of recent data center moratoriums, noting that these measures typically last only one or two years, whereas data centers do not come online for the next two to five years.
Sean O’Kane suggested that the industry's poor communication strategy is a significant reason for the backlash, observing that tech companies often fail to explain how their projects are useful to the general public.
The conversation highlighted that long-standing secrecy in negotiations has fueled distrust, a dynamic Sean compared to Uber’s expansion tactics in the mid-2010s, where projects were negotiated without public knowledge.
Anthony Ha noted that while New York has a one-year moratorium on permits, Microsoft’s earlier announcement to stop using NDAs represents a positive initial step toward transparency, even if it does not immediately win over opponents.
Sean further emphasized the broader communication crisis within the tech industry, criticizing Tesla’s vague mission statements as an example of companies struggling to define their vision clearly.
Anthony concluded by reflecting on how the narrative is shifting from an inevitable future to one that requires the industry to actively make their case for AI and data center infrastructure.
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