Monday, January 23, 2023

"Amazon to Plow Extra $35 Billion Into Virginia Data Centers in Cloud Race" (AMZN)

This sort of brute power is one of the reasons for Jim Chanos' short of the data center REITS, so far with mixed results. One of the two he has publicly named is up 10% versus the S&P 500, so a relative loser. The other is down 20% versus the index so profits for the fund.

From Bloomberg, January 20:

  • AWS investments planned at multiple locations in the state
  • Virginia has offered company incentives to expand footprint

Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud unit will spend $35 billion on new data centers in Virginia by 2040, underscoring its determination to stay ahead of rivals Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.

The investments at multiple locations will create an estimated 1,000 jobs in Virginia, the state said in a news release Friday. Virginia is Amazon Web Services’ most important hub, where dozens of data centers power applications for customers across the Eastern US. A number of sites are under consideration and will be selected at a later date, the state said.

AWS is the largest provider of cloud computing and last year dropped an estimated $28.4 billion on capital expenditures, according to BofA Securities analysts. The Amazon division sells governments and companies processing power and software services, and encourages them to unplug their own data centers in favor of the on-demand computing tools from Amazon’s servers.

Northern Virginia has long been a hub for the physical infrastructure that underlies the internet. The region’s relatively cheap power — critical for electricity-hungry server farms — and government tax breaks also make the area attractive for companies looking to build data centers.....

....MUCH MORE

Now, combine that with the modular nuclear plants that MSFT, GOOG and AMZN are looking at to run the data centers...

Previously on Amazon Virginia, from the outro of 2018's "Jeff Bezos Will Probably Consolidate His Power Bases In The Washington D.C. Area (AMZN)":

...Additionally the new location is (relatively) near CIA headquarters which is handy as Amazon is becoming quite the little spy contractor.
Also at Business Insider, Nov. 2017:
Amazon is launching a 'Secret' cloud service for the CIA...

And:

....And, as noted on the map above, the possible location is also conveniently close to Mr. Bezos' house, although in his case the choice is not as clear-cut as when then-head of supercomputer manufacturer Cray Research when asked where the company might relocate its headquarters answered: "Draw a circle with a twenty mile radius around the CEO's home."
Mr. Bezos owns five houses and 300,000 400,000 acres in Texas.

Although he stepped down as CEO of Amazon, he is Executive Chairman which sounds like the same power with fewer headaches.

Finally: 

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