Amazon Says It's No Longer Using NDAs for Data Centers The company announced it will stop using secret agreements with county officials and acknowledges community backlash could lead to data center "moratoriums" across the country. Amazon has made a series of new public commitments to communities where it's building data centers, including making an official announcement that it no longer uses nondisclosure agreements in its arrangements with county officials. In a blog post published Friday, CEO Matt Garman detailed the steps the company says it's already taking around data centers. In addition to stopping the use of NDAs, Garman says $1 billion will be invested over the next five years in communities that house the company's data centers. The money will go toward free community college programs, workforce training, and energy efficiency upgrades for schools, homes, and community buildings.

AI doomsday and climate change fears are driven by a Fear Industrial Complex of media, activists, and politicians. The pattern echoes decades of apocalyptic warnings.

From e-bikes to stoves, here's how companies are adding energy storage in surprising ways. If you want to install a big battery in New York City, you have to cut through a notoriously tough tangle of regulations. That's made it difficult to get large energy storage projects on the grid. Faced with those obstacles, some startups are getting creative, finding ways to use relatively small batteries in unexpected places, from induction stovetops to food carts. By deploying these more consumer-focused batteries, the companies are helping people directly, cutting pollution or power bills. And these units, while small on their own, could add up to a lot of capacity.

The negative climate news is piling up, but there are some bright spots of progress if you know where to look. Earlier this month, the UN announced the planet will tip past 1.5 C of warming, "likely within the next few years," squashing any lingering hope that nations would cut emissions fast enough to achieve the loftiest goal of the Paris climate agreement. In the US, the world's second-largest-emitting country, its leader continues to deny climate realities and unravel climate policies . Big Tech is backpedaling on its climate ambitions, as companies race to build massive AI data centers. And all this comes amid yet another season of shattered heat records, raging wildfires, and deadly floods. It can be tempting to give in to climate doom and defeatism.

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The technology could strap onto existing gas turbines and make them more efficient--but it wouldn't do away with their emissions entirely. A new company has a plan to make the dirty gas turbines powering data centers more efficient: liquid carbon dioxide. American Supercritical came out of stealth Wednesday, announcing $8 million in funding. It wants to retrofit inefficient gas turbines that many data centers rely on for power with units that can generate more power, without adding more emissions (though the gas-fired turbines will continue to emit carbon pollution). The technology can also theoretically be used on a wide variety of energy sources at a time when power demand is skyrocketing.

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The president has doubled down on data centers and AI. His base is running in the opposite direction. Welcome back to Power Play! Each week, senior writer Molly Taft tackles a topic around this midterm season's biggest issue: data centers. If you've got a question or thought for the column, feel free to shoot Molly an email at [email protected] or reach them securely on Signal at mollytaft.76.