Amazon is exploring a deal to transfer about $8 billion of Nvidia chips to outside investors as it looks for ways to finance the enormous cost of building out its AI infrastructure, according to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Seattle-based company has held talks with investors in recent weeks about putting thousands of Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips into a special-purpose vehicle, the FT reported on Friday. Amazon would then lease the chips back from the vehicle, which would raise debt against the hardware.
Amazon would retain use of the chips under the proposed arrangement, even after transferring them to the vehicle, according to the FT. It is also considering giving investors up to a 10% equity stake. The discussions are still underway, and the terms may change, the sources said.
Amazon expects to spend about $220 billion on capital expenditures this year, most of it through AWS for advanced chips and the broader construction of AI data centers. The company increased its planned bond issuance to about $50 billion in March, from $37 billion.
Data center footprint expansion
The reported chip proposal comes as Amazon's data-center footprint continues to expand. In a statement on Friday, the company said it invested $276 billion in data centers between 2011 and 2025 and has major projects or expansions underway in states including Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and Mississippi.
AWS also pledged more than $1 billion over five years for communities hosting its U.S. data centers, with spending earmarked for education, job training, energy affordability and water, and energy preservation. The company said it was addressing concerns over the facilities' electricity and water use as more than 100 data-center moratoriums were being considered across the U.S.
Amazon is expanding abroad as well. UK authorities this week approved an Amazon data center beside the M25 in Buckinghamshire, despite concerns over air quality and traffic, the BBC reported. The 18-acre site will include 27 backup generators, water tanks, and a substation.