Amazon AWS Plans to Purchase Over 3 Million Additional Chips by 2029: Key Semiconductor Procurement Update

Amazon's AWS division plans to deploy over 3 million Nvidia GPUs by 2029, with 2 million additional units scheduled for 2027-2028. The deal includes GPUs based on Nvidia's Blackwell Ultra, Rubin, and Rubin Ultra architectures. AWS's Q2 revenue grew 37% YoY to $42.2 billion, with a contract backlog of $496 billion. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted supply constraints but expects strong financial returns from AI investments.

Amazon (AMZN) is raising its minimum starting wage for U.S. core operations workers to $20/hour, a $1.5B investment. This follows rising fulfillment costs, which increased 13% YoY to $56.9B in H1 2026. The move aims to reduce turnover and support holiday demand, with average hourly pay approaching $24. Amazon's Q2 operating income rose 43% to $27.5B, but fulfillment expenses grew 14%. The wage hike adds to existing cost pressures, with future productivity gains uncertain.

Nvidia's supply commitments surged to $279B, driven by memory needs, impacting its gross margins (75% in Q2, expected to drop to 71%-72%). Micron, a key memory supplier, reported strong fiscal Q3 results ($41.46B revenue, $28.24B net income) and high margins (83%-87%). Micron's HBM4 memory is critical for Nvidia's AI chips, creating a supply bottleneck. Micron's CEO noted HBM's high wafer consumption limits conventional DRAM supply, affecting industries like smartphones.

Xianyu responded to allegations of pornography-related issues by setting up a task force and freezing 98,358 risk accounts. AMD's market cap exceeded $1 trillion. OpenAI urged the U.S. to lead global AI standards. Tesla's robotics team audited supply chain factories. Zhong Nanshan's team found new trends in pulmonary nodule incidence.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang highlighted memory and silicon photonics as AI bottlenecks, with Micron, Coherent, and Tower Semiconductor positioned to benefit. Micron leads in high-bandwidth memory, Coherent supplies photonics components, and Tower Semiconductor manufactures wafers. NVIDIA expects 70% revenue growth, and analysts note supply constraints and pricing power in these sectors.

Iambic Therapeutics, backed by Nvidia and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, filed for a US IPO. The biotech company develops drugs using AI, with its lead candidate in early-stage trials for solid tumors. Iambic has raised $461.8M and plans to list on Nasdaq as 'IAM'.