Amazon is building a multibillion-dollar data center operation in reliably red Ohio as the Biden administration’s federal regulators are ramping up scrutiny of the company and other big-tech firms.
Ohio’s Republican administration is cheering Amazon’s intention to spend $7.8 billion by 2030, while the exclusively Democratic Federal Trade Commission has hit the Big Tech company with a multimillion-dollar penalty and a new complaint in recent weeks.
Amazon Web Services’ new data center project is the second-largest single private investment in Ohio’s history, according to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s office, which celebrated the hundreds of expected new jobs in the Buckeye State.
“Amazon is already one of the largest private-sector employers in Ohio, and the company’s continued growth here further cements Ohio as the heart of our nation’s technology and innovation,” Mr. DeWine said in a statement.
Amazon employed nearly 1,000 Ohioans in 2022, according to Mr. DeWine’s office, and Amazon Web Services said its new investment is a long-term commitment to build upon the $6 billion it has already spent in the state since 2015.
Several locations in central Ohio are under consideration for building the new Amazon data-center campuses and final locations have not yet been selected, according to Mr. DeWine’s office.
Amazon said it also collaborates with central Ohio elementary schools to teach science and technology curricula and offers cloud computing instruction through several colleges in Ohio.
Amazon has not always been beloved by the Ohioans who twice voted for former President Donald Trump. After the 2020 election, many of Mr. Trump’s fans migrated to the social-media platform Parler over Big-Tech censorship, only to see Amazon Web Services pull the plug on hosting the platform while Apple and Google removed Parler from their app stores.
Republican state officials’ embrace of Amazon in 2023 showcases the strength of Ohio’s desire to be the tech hub in the heartland over Americans’ animosity for Big Tech.
“This positions Ohio as a critical location for the most discussed technology in the world, artificial intelligence,” Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said in a statement. “This enormous capital investment further solidifies Ohio as the tech center of the Midwest and positions us for a bright future as cloud computing and artificial intelligence are more integrated into the economy and our everyday lives.”
While Amazon is making inroads with powerful Ohio Republicans, Democrats are scrutinizing the Big Tech titan and the Biden administration has slapped it with fines and new roadblocks.
The House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee had Amazon in its crosshairs under previous Democratic leadership. In 2020, the House’s top antitrust panel completed an investigation into Amazon and three other Big Tech companies.
Before Republicans took control of the House in 2023, Democratic lawmakers urged President Biden’s Justice Department to investigate alleged misleading conduct by Amazon before the committee. Two Republican lawmakers joined a letter requesting an Amazon investigation in March 2022: Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida.
Amazon has also not escaped the Biden administration’s crosshairs.
The FTC and Department of Justice hit Amazon with a $25 million penalty last month over accusations of violating a children’s privacy law and deceiving parents about its retention of voice and location data.
Amazon disputed the FTC’s claims and denied violating the law.
Earlier this month, the FTC accused Amazon of a years-long effort to enroll people in Amazon Prime and make it difficult for them to cancel.
FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan, a Biden appointee who is facing mounting scrutiny on Capitol Hill, said at the time that Amazon “tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent.”
Amazon also rejected the FTC’s complaint as wrong on the law and facts of its work.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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