AWS AI Hits $15B Run Rate as Jassy Defends $200B Bet
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- Andy Jassy published his 2025 annual letter defending Amazon's roughly $200B AI spending spree, using the platform to take direct aim at Nvidia, Intel, and Starlink (per TechCrunch)
- AWS AI revenue hit a $15B annual run rate as of Q1 2026, the figure Jassy used to anchor the spending justification (per Reuters, GeekWire)
- Amazon's internal chips business is already generating more than $20B per year, with Blockonomi's headline pegging $50B in potential
- Amazon is considering selling its AI chips to companies beyond AWS, a move Yahoo Finance framed as 'raising stakes for Nvidia, AMD' (per Bloomberg, The Information)
- AWS's 2026 capex is mostly already backed by customer commitments, per analyst Frank Downing on X, and the unit could be growing faster than 24% with more capacity
Why it matters: Jassy backed Amazon's roughly $200B AI spend with concrete numbers — a $15B AWS AI run rate and a $20B-plus chip business — and signaled those custom chips could soon compete with Nvidia beyond AWS. If Amazon sells its silicon externally, Nvidia loses pricing leverage with one of its largest captive buyers and gains a direct rival in the accelerator market.
