AWS head says Amazon needs to be more vocal about data center services: 'Do you not want to use Netflix?'
AWS CEO Matt Garman argues that Amazon must be more transparent about the role data centers play in supporting essential modern services like Netflix. He warns that local opposition and moratoriums on data center construction could hinder the U.S. in the global AI race.
Why it matters
The tension between local community opposition to infrastructure and the massive energy demands of AI development is a critical policy challenge for the tech industry.
AWS CEO Matt Garman Noah Berger/Getty Images for Amazon Web Services AWS CEO Matt Garman says Amazon needs to be more "vocal" in how it talks about data centers. He said the tech giant should focus on how data centers support everyday services like watching Netflix. Garman previously warned that data center moratoriums could set the US back by decades. AWS CEO Matt Garman says he wants Amazon to be more upfront about how data centers already affect daily life. "If you usually go to a community and say, 'Do you not want to use Netflix?' They'll go, 'No, no, I still want Netflix,'" Garman said during a recent interview on the "A16z Show" podcast. Garman's point is that services like Netflix, which rely on AWS' cloud, require the very data centers that Americans increasingly oppose.
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