Amazon Seeks Outside Funding for Massive AI Chip Purchase

Amazon is exploring a new financing structure to fund its rapidly expanding AI infrastructure spending. The e-commerce giant has reportedly held talks with investors about transferring thousands of Nvidia NVDA chips into a special-purpose vehicle funded by outside investors.

The vehicle could issue debt and sell up to a 10% equity stake to external investors, allowing Amazon to continue using the hardware while reducing its balance-sheet burden. This move would effectively create a more asset-light financing model for part of its AI infrastructure.

According to the Financial Times, Amazon has discussed this plan with investors in recent weeks and is looking at transferring Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips across more than a dozen U.S. data centers into the new vehicle.

The reported $8 billion transaction would not reduce Amazon's need for computing capacity but change how that capacity is financed. The AI spending boom is forcing tech companies to rethink their financing strategies, and this move could be seen as an emerging trend in the industry.