Amazon on Friday pledged more than $1 billion over five years for US communities that host its data centers, the latest tech giant seeking to win over residents increasingly hostile to the AI-fueled construction boom. The “Built Together” program, unveiled by Amazon Web Services chief Matt Garman in a 3,000-word blog post, will fund free community college degrees and trades training as well as energy-efficiency upgrades for schools and homes. Microsoft made a similar move in March, the first major tech firm to do so. Garman cast the buildout as a national security imperative on par with the 1950s interstate highway system. Should the mushroon data centers raise ans alarm?
