Amazon plans $220 billion AI capex for 2026

Amazon expects to spend approximately $220 billion in capital expenditure in 2026, a figure CEO Andy Jassy describes as insufficient to meet current AI demand. Jassy stated that 2026 capacity is sold out, 2027 is largely sold out, and a significant portion of 2028 is already committed. AWS AI revenue reached a $25 billion annual run rate in the first three years of the generative AI wave, compared to a $60 million run rate in AWS's first three years overall. The company's custom silicon, developed by Annapurna Labs, includes Graviton CPUs, which offer 40% better price-performance than x86 alternatives, and Trainium AI accelerators, which provide 30-40% better price-performance than comparable processors. Jassy argued that inference costs remain an order of magnitude too high for pervasive enterprise adoption. To address community concerns, Amazon has paid $3 billion in taxes in St. Joseph County, Indiana, and committed an additional $1 billion to communities with data center presences over the next five years through its 'Built Together' program. Jassy compared the current infrastructure build-out to the 1950s highway construction, arguing the US cannot afford to lag behind China in this sector.