Amazon CEO Jassy defends $200 billion AI spend: "We're not going to be conservative"

In this articleAmazon CEO Andy Jassy on Thursday released his annual shareholder letter and once again made the case to Wall Street investors that the company's huge investments in artificial intelligence are worthwhile. "We're not going to be conservative in how we play this — we're investing to be the meaningful leader, and our future business, operating income, and [free cash flow] will be much larger because of it," Jassy wrote.The company disclosed in February that it expects to spend roughly $200 billion this year on capital expenditures, with the lion's share going toward AI infrastructure, including data centers, chips and networking equipment. That's more than any of its tech peers, and a nearly 60% increase from last year.Amazon shares have struggled so far this year as investors question the company's aggressive AI spending plans and grow increasingly impatient about when the investments will pay off. Amazon shares surged more than 5% on Thursday. The stock is up less than 1% year to date.Jassy has said that Amazon needs the capital to go after "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" and to keep pace with "very high demand" for the company's AI compute.He reiterated that argument on Thursday and also disclosed for the first time that AI revenue in its cloud computing segment has hit a $15 billion annual run rate. "We're not investing approximately $200 billion in capex in 2026 on a hunch," Jassy wrote. He noted specifically the over $100 billion commitment from OpenAI, adding that Amazon has received customer commitments for "a substantial portion" of the capex spend and expects to monetize most of it next year and in 2028. Amazon's custom chip business, which includes Graviton processors, Trainium AI chips and Nitro architecture, has notched an annual revenue run rate of more than $20 billion, and is "growing triple digit percentages" year over year, Jassy said. Amazon announced separately Thursday it plans to spend $12 billion on new data centers in central Mississippi, bringing its total investment in the state to $25 billion. It said it plans to cover "all expenses for new energy infrastructure" and any upgrades to local power grids.Jassy, who became CEO in 2021 when founder Jeff Bezos stepped down, called back to his predecessor's message to Wall Street decades earlier, when Amazon remained unprofitable for many years. Bezos argued that long-term growth was more important than short-term profits, testing investors' patience. In the process, Amazon invested significant sums in cloud computing, warehouses and devices. Amazon eventually churned out sizable profits and grew to dominate new markets.Jassy said Amazon is seizing on opportunities that could become big "pillars," or growth engines, for the company over time. He pointed to the chips business, which is "on fire," and highlighted growth in its grocery unit, rapid delivery service and nascent Leo satellite internet offering. "We are willing to make large capex investments and endure short-term FCF headwinds for the substantial medium to long-term FCF surplus," Jassy said.Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inboxGet this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.© 2026 Versant Media, LLC.

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