$150 billion! Amazon is preparing to "splurge" heavily on data centers

Author: Li Xiaoyin

Source: Hard AI

Continuing to compete for AI dominance! Amazon invests heavily in building a super AI "base".

According to media reports, cloud computing giant Amazon is planning to invest around $150 billion in the construction and operation of global data centers over the next 15 years to meet the surge in demand for artificial intelligence applications and other digital services.

It is reported that most of Amazon's data center expansions are to meet the growing demand for enterprise services such as file storage and databases, mainly to provide massive computing power support for the rapid development of generative AI.

Kevin Miller, Vice President of AWS responsible for overseeing the company's data centers, told the media:

"We are significantly expanding our data centers, which I believe gives us the ability to get closer to our customers."

Currently, in the cloud services market, Amazon remains the undisputed king, with a share twice that of Microsoft, and Amazon's disclosed investment scale in data centers far exceeds that of Microsoft and Google.

According to media statistics, in the past two years, Amazon has committed to investing $148 billion in building and operating data centers globally.

Amazon's "Cloud Computing Empire"

Before the era of AI prosperity arrives, Amazon is sparing no effort to build its "cloud computing empire".

Relevant data shows that since 2020, all of Amazon's real estate area (including data centers and office space) has doubled.

It is reported that Amazon's first data center was established in Virginia, which remains a key hub for video streaming, enterprise and government data storage; subsequently, Amazon opened a second data center in Oregon, taking full advantage of the region's cheap hydroelectric power and tax incentives.

These two data centers are the main strongholds of Amazon's "cloud computing empire". It is reported that in Amazon Web Services' spending on US infrastructure, about $4 out of every $5 comes from Virginia and Oregon.

Currently, the company not only plans to expand these two existing server clusters, but also plans to "invade" new regions including Mississippi, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.

Behind the "lavish" investment in data centers is the competition for power resources

However, the "power shortage" issue faced by Amazon's data centers in recent years has become increasingly prominent.

During 2022, Dominion Energy, which supplies power to the Virginia data center corridor, suspended connections to facilities that were ready to go online due to the inability to keep up with power demand; in Oregon, Amazon's server center's power usage exceeded the public limit of hydroelectric power, forcing Amazon to purchase power generated by natural gas.

To meet the continuously increasing power demand under the AI boom, Amazon has had to expand its data centers by all means, including but not limited to: investing in existing data center parks in Mississippi, investing $650 million in a data center park near a nuclear power plant, acquiring land with both data centers and substations Former Microsoft manager Charles Fitzgerald said:

"Currently, this is just a crazy land grab for the sake of providing electricity as soon as possible."

Energy pollution is the main concern

However, the expansion of data centers is attracting more and more opposition, mainly due to concerns about the environment and resources.

For example, according to media reports, residents in Virginia have complained of enduring noise pollution from data centers for years. Environmentalists also claim that data center parks occupy historical sites, and their massive power demand will increase fossil fuel usage and exacerbate global warming.

Although Amazon has been the world's largest buyer of corporate renewable energy and has pledged that by 2025 all operations will partially use renewable power, these projects do not seem to include data centers.

Daniel Tait, research manager at the Energy and Policy Institute, said:

"Companies like Amazon are not only indirectly promoting more fossil fuel use, but also inducing other companies to do the same."

Miller, head of Amazon's data center, said the company is continuously evaluating clean energy projects beyond wind and solar power plants, including battery storage and nuclear power that can replace fossil fuel power plants. He promised to work with public utility companies to find a way to "meet our energy needs with renewable, carbon-free power."