亚马逊已就其正在建设数据中心的社区作出了一系列新的公开承诺，其中包括正式宣布，在与县官员的协议中不再使用保密协议。
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.
在周五发布的一篇博客文章中，首席执行官马特·加曼详细介绍了该公司声称已在数据中心方面采取的措施。除了停止使用保密协议外，加曼表示，未来五年将向容纳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的社区大学项目、劳动力培训，以及学校、住宅和社区建筑的能效升级。
In 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.
在这篇文章中，加曼承认，全国范围内针对数据中心的强烈反对正在阻碍人工智能基础设施的建设。
In the post, Garman acknowledged how the fierce backlash against data centers across the country is hampering the AI buildout.
他写道：“目前，全国有超过100个数据中心暂停令正在审议中。如果这些措施得以实施，美国可能会为自己在这场[人工智能]竞赛中写下失败的注脚，其后果将影响数代人。作为一个国家，我们无法承受陷入这种境地。”
“Right now there are over 100 data center moratoriums being considered across the country,” he wrote. “If these measures are enacted, the U.S. 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.”
在大规模数据中心建设过程中，保密协议已成为一个关键的争议焦点。通常，与计划在辖区内开发项目的数据中心签署保密协议的当地官员，无法向公众分享相关信息，包括特定项目的能源和用水情况。许多保密协议甚至禁止官员透露基本信息，例如参与数据中心建设的技术公司。今年7月，《纽约时报》报道称，在各级政府的秘密协议对于推进其位于路易斯安那州的超大规模数据中心“海利翁”（Hyperion）的建设计划至关重要。
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 on how secret agreements at all levels of government were crucial in building out plans for Hyperion, its massive data center in Louisiana.
近期，各地纷纷推出立法措施，试图规范那些不透明的数据中心的合同协议（即保密协议，NDAs）。宾夕法尼亚州州长乔什·夏皮罗、马萨诸塞州州长莫拉·希利以及特拉华州州长马特·迈耶都通过行政命令严厉打击了数据中心使用保密协议的行为。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也正在考虑通过立法来禁止这种做法。
There has been a rush of recent local legislation attempting to address the secretive paperwork. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, and Delaware Gov. 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.
在联邦层面，一个由两党议员组成的团体最近向众议院提交了《数据中心保密协议禁止法案》（No Secrets for Data Centers Act）。本周早些时候，该法案的发起人之一——马里兰州民主党众议员杰米·拉斯金（Jamie Raskin）致函亚马逊（Amazon）、谷歌（Google）、Meta和甲骨文（Oracle），要求它们提供有关其使用保密协议情况的详细信息；亚马逊向《华尔街日报》表示已停止使用此类保密协议。
At the federal level, a bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced the No Secrets for Data Centers Act in the House. Earlier this week, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), 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.)
谷歌、Meta和甲骨文并未回复《华尔街日报》的采访请求。亚马逊曾因保密协议问题引发多起备受关注的争议：去年，亚利桑那州图森市的一家当地媒体通过公开信息申请揭露了亚马逊在该市运营数据中心的真相，但由于存在保密协议，当地政府官员无法公开该数据中心的最终租户信息（亚马逊后来已退出了该项目）；在印第安纳州南本德市，亚马逊在该市投资了超过130亿美元建设了一个大型数据中心园区，一些当地官员称由于与公司签订的保密协议，他们无法回答有关该项目的任何问题。
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 tog NDAs with the company.
由于数据中心融资和建设的透明度较低，实际使用这些数据中心的最终租户（如亚马逊）往往并非直接与政府官员打交道的公司。正如《休斯顿纪事报》（Houston Chronicle）上月所报道的那样，德克萨斯州沃顿县（Wharton County）的一位高级官员签署的保密协议并非与亚马逊签订，而是与承包商VisionFirst Advisors签订的，这导致他无法透露有关亚马逊项目的详细信息。
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.
对于《WIRED》关于“亚马逊是否将其关于保密协议的承诺也适用于其承包商”的问题，亚马逊并未予以回应。
Amazon did not respond to WIRED’s queries about whether the promises around NDAs also extend to its contractors.
加尔曼（Garman）在新发布的博客文章中，主要致力于澄清那些关于数据中心的水资源消耗、能源使用、柴油发电机的运用以及对周边社区影响的错误信息或彻头彻尾的谎言。他写道：“数据中心的建设在 geopolitical（地缘政治）层面具有极其重要的意义，因此有大量报道称一些国家故意在美国散布有关数据中心的虚假信息，试图让我们放慢数据中心建设的步伐。”
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 U.S. about data centers to trick us into slowing down,” he wrote.
正如《WIRED》杂志所报道的那样，白宫和科技行业领袖们一直声称中国正在故意制造关于数据中心的负面舆论和虚假信息。然而，专家们认为这种说法被严重夸大了，实际上几乎没有证据表明是中国的虚假信息导致了公众对数据中心的负面反应。
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.