Amazon is spending billions of dollars on AI hardware, but some of its new server racks are sitting in warehouses because its data centers lack the electricity needed to run them, according to a report by Business Insider.
Internal emails show that Amazon expected to receive $5 billion worth of Nvidia AI server systems in August, followed by another $3 billion worth each month. The company did not specify how long the purchases would continue.
Under a new Early Rack Receipt process, Amazon Web Services (AWS) expected to receive roughly $5 billion worth of Nvidia GB300 server racks at U.S. facilities before their final deployment, according to internal emails from August reviewed by Business Insider. One email projected an additional $3 billion worth of GB300 racks each month “for the foreseeable future.”
READ: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says basic math skills ‘don’t matter’ in AI era (September 25, 2026)
While some AWS sites had space for more racks, they lacked sufficient power to turn them on, according to people familiar with the matter. As a result, the completed equipment must be stored in intermediate warehouses until the facilities are ready.
At least one AWS team lacked “a clear forecasted path” for getting the incoming racks into data centers at the time, according to one of the emails.
Business Insider reported that a lack of new electricity capacity is one of several bottlenecks slowing the development of some AI data centers. This has contributed to the phenomenon known as “dark GPUs,” in which AI chips and servers are purchased but remain idle because of power shortages or other challenges.
The delays are also adding to the financial pressure on large data center projects. Companies must spend money upfront to secure Nvidia GPUs and other valuable hardware. However, when data centers are not ready to operate, those investments can tie up substantial amounts of cash. Debt financing can help bridge the gap, but lenders have recently become less willing to finance some of these projects.
READ: Nvidia CEO takes unexpected Trump call on stage to dismiss AI risks (September 15, 2026)
AWS infrastructure chief Prashant Kalyanaraman described Amazon’s AI business as “hugely free cash flow negative” and said he expected the company’s free cash flow to remain negative for another couple of years, according to Benzinga.
Amazon plans to spend $220 billion on capital investments across the company this year. Its free cash flow fell to negative $7.6 billion for the 12 months ended June 30, compared with positive $18.2 billion a year earlier.