By Daragh Thomas
Publication Date: 2026-10-21 18:06:00
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Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is buying billions in Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI hardware, but some new server racks are sitting in warehouses because its data centers lack the electricity to run them, Business Insider reported Tuesday.
Internal emails show Amazon expected to receive $5 billion worth of Nvidia AI server systems in August, followed by another $3 billion a month. The company did not specify how long those purchases would continue.
Amazon Buys Before It Can Plug In
Amazon introduced an “Early Rack Receipt” program to secure Nvidia chips amid fierce competition, even before its data centers are ready.
Previously, Amazon waited until the equipment arrived at its data centers before taking ownership. Now it pays earlier, even if the servers have to sit in warehouses waiting for electricity.
Some sites have space for the racks but insufficient power, Business Insider reported. One supply-chain team didn’t know when the Nvidia servers it was receiving would actually be installed and ready to use.
Amazon called staging hardware near deployment sites “best business practice” and disputed suggestions that AWS lacked a broader deployment plan.
The Cost of Waiting
At a September internal meeting, AWS CFO John Felton joked to infrastructure chief Prasad Kalyanaraman, according…
