Amazon Engineers Slam Company’s AI Data Center Spending Amid Ongoing Layoffs

Amazon engineers publicly criticized the company’s aggressive investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure during a Seattle City Council hearing on Wednesday as local officials moved forward with a proposal to temporarily halt the development of new large-scale data centers within city limits.

The criticism took place during a meeting of the Seattle City Council’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee, which unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on new AI-focused data center projects while the city studies their potential impact on infrastructure, utility systems, public health and the local economy. The measure now heads to the full council for consideration.

Patrick Schloesser, a software engineer at Amazon Web Services, told city officials that Amazon’s growing investment in AI infrastructure contrasts sharply with the company’s recent workforce reductions. He noted that the company plans to spend $200 billion on capital expenditures this year, much of it directed toward AI infrastructure and data centers, while the company has eliminated more than 30,000 corporate positions since October, CNBC reported.

“What that tells me is that Big Tech is desperate to build as much compute capacity as it can, as fast as it can,” Schloesser said during the hearing.

Amazon reacted by telling CNBC it respects employees’ right to express their views. The company also said it currently has no plans to build data centers within Seattle city limits and remains focused on energy efficiency, water conservation and local economic development in communities where it operates such facilities.

Seattle’s action comes as cities and states across the United States wrestle with the rapid expansion of data centers needed to support AI services. Four developers previously approached Seattle City Light with proposals for five large-scale facilities in the area, prompting concerns about electricity demand and environmental impacts. Two of those proposals were later withdrawn following public opposition, according to local reporting cited by city officials.

The proposed facilities would have required up to 369 megawatts of electricity, enough to power roughly 300,000 homes, city officials said while announcing the moratorium proposal. Concerns about utility costs, water consumption and environmental effects have become central issues in debates over AI infrastructure projects across the country.

Seattle is not alone in examining restrictions on data center growth. Earlier this week, voters in Monterey Park, California, approved a ballot measure permanently banning data centers, making it one of the first U.S. cities to adopt such a prohibition amid growing opposition to large AI infrastructure projects, according to The Guardian.

The debate has intensified as major technology companies continue directing unprecedented sums toward AI development. Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta have collectively committed hundreds of billions of dollars to AI-related capital spending this year, much of it tied to data center construction and computing capacity expansion, the CNBC report said.

The Amazon employees who addressed the Seattle hearing are affiliated with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a worker advocacy group that has repeatedly challenged the company’s environmental and labor policies. The organization gained attention last year after more than 1,000 Amazon employees signed an open letter urging company leaders to adopt what they described as a more responsible approach to AI deployment and its environmental impact, according to WIRED.