Amazon employees ask Seattle to put the brakes on new data centers
Seattle will vote on a one-year data center moratorium backed by Amazon employees and local residents.
Seattle’s City Council is set to vote on a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data centers after five projects were proposed in the city. Amazon employees, other tech workers, engineers, and residents testified in support, citing electricity demand, water use, noise, housing, transparency, and AI safety concerns. Supporters want stricter rules around renewable energy, public resource reporting, developer disclosure, and worker-led oversight.
The Verge reports that the Seattle City Council will vote on June 9, 2026, whether to implement a one-year pause on new large data center proposals. This discussion came shortly after several companies proposed building five large data centers in the city, reflecting the conflict between the rapid expansion of computing infrastructure amid the AI boom and local public resource pressures. Supporters of the build ban include Seattle residents, engineers, software developers, and current and former Amazon employees. Amazon senior software engineer Liesl Wigand stated at the hearing that there is a widespread culture in the tech industry that "AI should solve everything," while ignoring the resource costs involved. She is also a member of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group that previously required Amazon's data centers to use 100% additional locally sourced renewable energy.
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