Amazon's Nvidia Chips Are Sitting in Warehouses Without Power as AI Spending Soars, Business Insider Reports
Amazon (AMZN) is purchasing billions in Nvidia (NVDA) AI hardware, but some unpowered server racks are sitting in warehouses due to insufficient electricity in data centers. Amazon introduced an 'Early Rack Receipt' program to secure Nvidia chips amid competition. AWS CFO John Felton noted the AI business is 'hugely free cash flow negative,' with company-wide capital spending at $220B this year.
How this was made

The 30-second read
Why it matters
The disclosed idle hardware may lead to a short‑term dip in Amazon's stock as investors reassess near‑term cash flow, while Nvidia's order book remains strong.
Market read
Operational bottleneck at Amazon could weigh on its stock; Nvidia's order confirms demand but may not translate to immediate revenue.
What to watch
Potential for rapid power‑capacity upgrades or alternative data‑center locations could resolve the issue faster than anticipated.
Background
Amazon's AWS division is expanding AI capabilities, while Nvidia supplies the leading GPUs for such workloads.
Ticker impact
Amazon disclosed it has received billions of dollars in Nvidia AI servers that are sitting idle in warehouses due to power constraints.
likely downside as investors price in delayed revenue from the unpowered servers
The article reveals a material $5B+ hardware backlog with no near‑term deployment, which could hurt AWS cash flow and earnings guidance.
Nvidia is the supplier of the AI server systems that Amazon has purchased but cannot yet power on.
potential modest upside if investors focus on order size, but limited by Amazon's deployment delay
The large order confirms demand, yet the lack of immediate installation reduces near‑term revenue recognition.
Market effects
Highlights potential supply‑chain and power‑capacity constraints for AI infrastructure providers.
May affect US cloud services sector sentiment.
Signals broader challenges in scaling AI hardware deployments worldwide.
Counterpoint
The backlog could allow Amazon to negotiate better pricing or defer costs, mitigating short‑term impact.
Key entities
- companyAmazon.com Inc.
US e‑commerce and cloud services giant.
- companyNvidia Corp.
Leading GPU and AI hardware provider.


