Amazon has received large quantities of GPUs but cannot power them on, exposing the power bottleneck in AI compute expansion

Large quantities of GPUs arrive but cannot be powered on! Amazon exposes the power bottleneck in AI compute expansion Source: Semiconductor Horizons Published: 2026-10-26 11:15 Data center GPU generated poster Major data centers and cloud giants are hoarding hardware as much as possible, but much of the equipment is essentially left to gather dust on the shelves.

It is reported that as long as it can secure new hardware capacity earlier, Amazon is willing to pre-commit billions of dollars in cash. Related materials mention Amazon's early cabinet receipt process. Under this process, in August alone, Amazon Web Services (AWS) planned to receive Nvidia GB300 cabinets worth about $5 billion; for the foreseeable future, it will continue to receive similar equipment worth about $3 billion each month. Before the servers even entered the final deployment stage, Amazon had already obtained this batch of servers built specifically for the AI inference era.

Some Amazon Web Services (AWS) facilities in the United States lack sufficient power and cannot install or start these servers. This batch of expensive hardware can only be stored in transit warehouses for now, waiting for the corresponding data center sites to be completed. In an email, one Amazon team expressed helplessness, saying that for the many GPUs the company purchases each month, there is no clear actual installation and deployment timetable.

Amazon's insufficient power supply is a microcosm of the increasingly intensifying "Dark GPU" phenomenon today. Major data centers and cloud giants are hoarding hardware as much as possible, but much of the equipment is essentially left to gather dust on the shelves, while the rest of the IT industry still faces tight hardware supply.

The "Dark GPU" problem has also brought financial pressure to the data center business. Amazon's free cash flow over the past twelve months turned negative in the second quarter, the first time since 2023; the company expects this state to continue for some time, with capital expenditure this year expected to reach about $220 billion.

Amazon's investment in building AI capabilities and expanding data center scale exceeds that of all other hyperscale cloud providers, and for this it has also broken with its past business practices. Before the AI boom arrived, Amazon Web Services (AWS) would complete the transfer of ownership only after cabinets were finished and delivered to the data center. Now, this company founded by Jeff Bezos is willing to invest billions of dollars in advance to lock in more AI cabinets at an earlier point in the supply chain.

An Amazon spokesperson defended the practice, saying that storing finished cabinets in warehouses is "best business practice." The company expects that this massive AI infrastructure buildout will ultimately bring considerable financial returns, because AI is an opportunity of a lifetime, and no IT company can afford the cost of missing it. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has experienced similar stages in the past.

It is worth noting that in September this year, U.S. power equipment manufacturer Generac filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, showing that it signed an agreement with Amazon to issue a warrant to the latter's wholly owned subsidiary Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings, granting it the right to subscribe for up to 1,693,745 shares of the company's common stock at an exercise price of $200.93 per share. Of these, 307,954 warrant shares vest immediately, and the remaining shares will vest in batches during the warrant's validity period; the vesting conditions depend on the total amount received by Generac and its global affiliates for providing backup generators for Amazon data centers to Amazon and its affiliates (after deducting specified items), up to $8 billion.

Generac signed a long-term supply agreement with Amazon, with initial deliveries of backup generators expected to total $2.4 billion in 2027 and 2028. The filing states that, subject to the vesting conditions stipulated in the warrant and transaction agreement and other specified conditions, Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings may choose to exercise the warrant in whole or in part by cash exercise or cashless exercise on or before September 16, 2033.

This article is reproduced from media reports or online platforms and represents the author's personal position or views. Our republication is solely for sharing and does not mean that we approve of or endorse it. If the source attribution is incorrect or your lawful rights and interests are infringed, please contact customer service promptly, and as a neutral platform service provider we will promptly correct, delete, or handle it in accordance with the law. Comments No user comments yet Latest News More Related Recommendations

Samsung self-tests Exynos 2700 performance about 20% higher than Qualcomm's flagship chip 2026-10-26 11:48

AMD Ryzen 5 5500F, can it shake up the sub-$100 CPU market? 2026-10-26 11:13

"3D building construction" on 200mm wafers 2026-10-26 11:11