When Big Tech Comes Calling Offering the Fruits of Hyperscale Data Centers, They are Deceptive and Don't Always Tell the Truth

How do Big Tech companies who come calling on local communities, selling their data centers stack the deck in their favor? This has become increasingly important to local communities as tech companies arrive in those communities searching for places to build their massive, resource-hogging hyperscale data centers.

That’s the subject of Paris Marx’s new book “Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech’s Data Empires.” Every member of every community and city needs to read this one.

When Big Tech comes to local communities, they use a whole array of obfuscation and downright deception to coax local governments to sell out their communities to these massive box-like data center buildings that are ugly, noisy behemoth resource hogging monstrosities.

Marx points out both the tactics they use to get in the door and the often long-term consequences of hyperscale data centers being built in communities and its not a happy ending.

For example, these companies use the “non-disclosure agreement” to ensure that local government lips are sealed and unable to disclose how much water and power their data centers are going to consume.

Personally, I think all citizens should vote out any local city councilmember or county commissioner who signs such agreements. With that signature they are signing a pact of allegiance to the tech company and not the citizens of that community.

 Now, they are legally bound to keep their mouths shut about the conditions of that sale. That means these local government officials are not longer answering to citizens; they are now answering to the tech company. Who wants politicians in office who do that?

If citizens want to know how shady these tech company deals are, just ask or inquire if a non-disclosure agreement is being signed. That’s a pretty good sign of a shady deal for citizens.

Marx’s book captures a great deal more on how companies who build these data centers hide their real negative impacts on communities. He describes how they refuse to report publicly their consumption of water and power resources. They even say they are power or water neutral, yet they hide the real facts.

And, they do not share information about any emissions either, making local communities think they have a neighboring industry that’s non-polluting and quiet. Yet, they cause so much noise that in some communities, people are unable to sleep at night.

What’s worse, Big Tech companies have come to local communities in the disguise of shell companies, hiding behind a mask until after construction is underway and too late for citizens to object. That just plain smells with wrong. Why in the world would you want a neighbor that lies to you?

I would recommend Paris Marx’s book for anyone who has heard that their local governments are negotiating away their community’s future to Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple, or any technology company seeking to build a data center. 

He offers local citizens the tools to interrogate their local governments dealings and path to resistance and ways to force Big Tech to back off their efforts to hold local government’s hostage while they destroy the life of a local community.