Seattle's City Council voted to approve a one-year moratorium on new large-scale AI data centers, following testimony...

Seattle's City Council voted to approve a one-year moratorium on new large-scale AI data centers, following testimony from Amazon engineers who criticized the company's $200B capex while laying off 30,000 staff (Source 7). The moratorium allows time for regulation, reflecting a growing trend: 14 states are considering similar pauses or bans (Source 7). Two of four proposed data center projects in Seattle have already been withdrawn after public outcry. AWS, which has no current plans to build in Seattle but relies on the broader regulatory environment for its $200B infrastructure push, faces a headwind that could delay capacity additions and raise compliance costs. The event signals rising local opposition to hyperscaler data center expansion, potentially constraining AWS's ability to scale AI infrastructure in key urban markets.