Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman (맷 가먼) countered local opposition to data centre construction by stressing the link between data centres and digital services used in daily life. He aims to argue for the need to expand infrastructure by pointing out that services such as Netflix depend on data centres.

On Oct. 10, Business Insider reported that Garman said in a recent podcast interview that it should be made more widely known that data centres already underpin services that are essential to everyday life.

Garman said that if opposition to data centre construction emerges in local communities, people can be asked, "Would you stop using Netflix?" He said that if people respond that they would not give up Netflix, they can also understand the role of data centres needed to keep the service running.

He stressed that digital services such as Netflix rely on AWS cloud infrastructure. Data centres should not be seen only as massive facilities out of sight, he said, but recognised as the foundation of services consumers use every day.

Netflix has long used AWS as a key cloud provider. Netflix said in 2016 that an outage in 2008 that halted DVD shipments for three days made it recognise the need to move to the cloud. In its 2025 annual report, it said it runs most of its computing resources on AWS and that moving to another provider would not be easy.

Garman's comments came as opposition in the United States grows over the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centres. As computing infrastructure needed to develop AI models and run services expands rapidly, debate is also intensifying over power consumption and burdens on local communities.

In a survey conducted by Fox News last month, 71 percent of registered voters said they oppose building data centres near their homes to support AI development. Expanding data centres has emerged as a major political issue for communities beyond a question of investment in the technology industry.

Amazon has opposed moves to restrict data centre construction. In a post published on Oct. 2, Garman argued that pauses in data centre construction could hinder the United States from expanding large-scale infrastructure and work against it in global AI competition.

He warned that if such measures are implemented, the United States could end up effectively booking its own defeat in the AI race, with the impact lasting for multiple generations.

He also presented economic benefits for local communities as part of his case. Garman said Amazon's data centre development has contributed to expanding local tax bases and that the company will continue to increase support for areas that accept related facilities.

He said that explaining the economic effect by saying property taxes would have been $5,000 higher than they are now if a data centre had not been built in the community could change residents' perceptions. He highlighted that data centres affect local finances as well as jobs and investment.

The remarks show that debate over data centres is tied not only to site selection but also to the foundations of digital services, local economic effects and the competitiveness of the U.S. AI industry. Amazon is expected to focus on raising local acceptance by emphasising both the service value and tax revenue effects provided by data centres.