In February 2026, Amazon announced that they expect to spend around $200 billion in capital expenditures (CapEx) for the year, with the majority being put to artificial intelligence infrastructure including data centres, chips and other networking equipment. This figure is nearly 60% up from 2025 and the largest investment among market leaders with Open AI, Alphabet and Meta pledging $100 billion, $185 billion and $115 - $135 billion respectively. The company separately revealed $12 billion plans for new data centres in Mississippi totalling an investment of $25 billion in the state.
Amazon’s share price has underperformed so far this year as investors question whether heavy AI spending will pay off. Company CEO Andy Jassy released the annual shareholder letter in early April in which he justifies the decision. “We’re not investing approximately $200 billion in capex in 2026 on a hunch” he wrote.
Although Amazon’s AI investments are yet to yield big returns, other areas have seen significant growth. Its annual revenue in cloud computing has reached a $15 billion annual run rate while its custom chip business is growing year on year with an annual run rate of $20 billion. Its web services have grown 24% in the most recent period to $35.6 billion marking the fastest growth in the past 13 quarters.
Jassy emphasises the importance of long-term growth over short term profits, insisting that AI investment is putting in the groundwork for huge future growth engines. Additionally, he says the capex is an opportunity to keep up with the demand for their AI technology.
