Amazon (AMZN.US) continues to fund AI expenditures: sets up hardware-backed financing arrangements of up to $80 billion, raising total spending commitment to $883 billion

According to Jinse Finance APP, Amazon (AMZN.US) has established a supplier financing arrangement, allowing it to borrow up to 80 billion USD based on the value of hardware purchased. As the company invests tens of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence infrastructure, this is its latest move to maintain financial flexibility.

So far, Amazon has funded data center construction and chip procurement using cash from its cloud computing and retail businesses, as well as the largest corporate bond issuance in the company's history.

However, the company has seldom adopted the kind of innovative financing arrangements used by some competitors, such as partnering with investment groups to finance data center construction or leasing chips purchased by other entities. Many of these transactions revolve around NVIDIA (NVDA.US) chips—these chips power most AI computations and are often the most expensive single component in new data centers.

Amazon disclosed in its quarterly report filed after Thursday's earnings release that the guaranteed loan facility can be drawn at the company's discretion, with a drawdown period from early 2027 to the third quarter of 2028. The lender will receive a collateral interest in some of the assets purchased under this financing arrangement. Amazon’s filing did not specify exactly which assets are included, and a spokesperson declined to comment.

“When we see such a massive opportunity ahead of us, we also look for responsible ways to finance it, so we can scale for our customers as much as possible,” Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), said in an interview on Friday. He stated that Amazon is working with partners to “evaluate how to balance part of the cash flow as we accelerate expansion in a major way.”

On Thursday, Amazon’s third-quarter financial report showed that capital expenditures rose faster than expected. These expenditures resulted in a net outflow of 42.4 billion USD in free cash flow during the year ending September 30. Amazon’s total spending commitments—including debt and interest, leases not yet commenced, obligations to acquire property and equipment, and other items—swelled to 883 billion USD at the end of September, up 36% from three months earlier and more than double the level for the same period in 2025.