Amazon’s $5 billion Nvidia AI servers sit idle in warehouses amid data center power shortages
Amazon has $5 billion worth of Nvidia AI servers in warehouses due to power shortages in data centers. The company expects to receive $3 billion worth of servers monthly. AWS infrastructure chief Prashant Kalyanaraman stated Amazon's AI business is free cash flow negative and expects it to remain so for a few years. Amazon's free cash flow was negative $7.6 billion for the 12 months ended June 30.
How this was made

The 30-second read
Why it matters
The idle Nvidia racks underscore execution risk in Amazon’s AI push, likely weighing on the stock until power constraints are resolved.
Market read
Amazon’s AI hardware bottleneck could depress its stock and affect broader tech sentiment.
What to watch
Potential for Amazon to negotiate better pricing on future GPU purchases or to monetize idle hardware through third‑party leasing.
Background
Amazon announced a $220 bn capital spend for the year, with AWS’s AI segment currently cash‑flow negative.
Ticker impact
Amazon disclosed that $5 bn of Nvidia AI server racks are stored idle due to power shortages at its data centers.
downward pressure as investors price in higher capex and delayed revenue from AI services
Large $5 bn inventory tie‑up and negative free cash flow signal near‑term earnings drag.
Market effects
AI‑hardware and data‑center suppliers may see reduced demand while power‑capacity constraints become a broader risk.
U.S. cloud providers could face similar bottlenecks, affecting tech‑sector sentiment.
Highlights systemic challenges in scaling AI infrastructure worldwide.
Counterpoint
If power upgrades accelerate, the idle inventory could be deployed quickly, turning the short‑term drag into a long‑term capacity advantage.
Key entities
- CompanyAmazon.com Inc.
Operator of AWS, the subject of the article.
- CompanyNvidia Corp.
Supplier of the AI server racks.





