Amazon has pledged more than 1 billion dollars for communities hosting its data centers. AWS announced the Built Together plan on October 2. The money will be spent over five years. It will fund education, job training, energy affordability and water projects. AWS CEO Matt Garman said local communities will decide how the funds are used. The company also stopped using non-disclosure agreements with government agencies. Amazon is the largest cloud provider to drop the practice. The NDAs had kept data center projects secret from local residents. Garman warned that local opposition threatens America’s AI lead. More than 100 local moratoriums on data center construction are under consideration. A Gallup survey found 71 percent of Americans oppose AI data centers near their homes. Amazon promised its data centers will not raise local power bills. It also pledged not to deplete local water supplies. The company aims to be water positive by 2030. It says it is about 75 percent of the way there. Critics say the 1 billion dollars is small next to AWS’s multibillion capital spending. Congressional probes into data center deals are still active.