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Shut up and take our money: Amazon plows $1B+ into quashing datacenter dissent
(www.theregister.com)
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this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2026
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White house meeting ended up with a "morally binding" agreement to be more generous to communities/states considering data centers.
Apparently, its cheaper to spend $1B on "toxic sludge is good for you" lies than it is to offer community benefits.
I think it's well past time we all stop treating oligarchs like they don't have something to gain by supporting each other. 1 billion from Amazon dissuading people from believing data centers are bad for the people around them = more money for health care companies when those people inevitably get sick. Those companies likely use AWS, which means some of that money gets funneled back into Amazon.
I'm sure I'm simplifying how things will actually work but this doesn't seem entirely outside the realm of possibility. Not to mention that 1B Amazon is spending is, essentially, investing in a disinformation/ propaganda machine - which has benefits down the line. Not to the people, of course.
This is perhaps obscure, but a reference to a famous PR book from the 1970s. Datacenter harm is mostly about electricity scarcity pricing for rest of US, noise and sometimes water use, and financial loss. There can be pollution/global warming associated concerns, but its not a major health care issue.
This is indeed the core issue in America. Israel first rulership is part of the support circle, and much more so, since 2024.
That $1B budget is unlikely to be TV advertisements for datacenters. It's likely to be bribes that get all of the pre-election candidate opposition to projects go quiet after election.