Amazon Engineers Criticize $200B AI Data Center Spending Amid 30,000 Layoffs; Seattle Approves Moratorium

According to CNBC, Amazon engineers testified at Seattle City Council hearings on Wednesday against the company's $200 billion AI data center investments while laying off 30,000 corporate staffers. Patrick Schloesser, a software engineer at Amazon Web Services, stated that Amazon is committing most of its $200 billion capital budget to AI infrastructure, while Microsoft plans to spend $190 billion, yet the company has laid off 30,000 employees in eight months. "Big Tech is desperate to build as much compute capacity as it can, as fast as it can," Schloesser said. The Seattle council voted unanimously to approve a one-year moratorium on large-scale AI data centers.

Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta have committed approximately $700 billion this year to capital expenditures, primarily for AI infrastructure. Simultaneously, tech giants are cutting costs through layoffs. Amazon reiterated its $200 billion capital expenditure plan in February and April, with the majority directed toward AI infrastructure.