Earlier this year, Microsoft moved away from using nondisclosure agreements in data-center talks with local governments. Amazon has now followed, saying it will stop using NDAs in those negotiations as well.¹

The change comes after secrecy became a flashpoint in the AI infrastructure boom. Communities have challenged projects from New York to San Francisco, where opposition to the scale, footprint and opaque terms of proposed facilities has helped drive hundreds of proposed or enacted moratoriums.¹

For Amazon and other operators, the retreat from NDAs is a concession to the political reality: local officials cannot credibly sell a project to residents when crucial details are shielded from public view. The companies’ implied case is that more open negotiations can reduce suspicion and help deals move forward.

But the community perspective is tougher. Disclosure is not the same as consent, and an NDA-free process will not automatically resolve concerns over the costs and local consequences of power-hungry data centers. The real question is whether residents receive enough information early enough to challenge assumptions, influence terms and judge who benefits.

A TechCrunch discussion framed the broader issue bluntly: “trust may be the real product” — both for personal AI businesses asking consumers for access and for infrastructure companies seeking public acceptance.¹ Amazon’s policy shift may remove one obvious barrier to that trust. It does not, by itself, build it.