Amazon announced a multi-billion-dollar data center campus in Missouri, signaling continued aggressive spending to compete in the AI cloud infrastructure race.

What happened: Amazon revealed plans for a new data center campus in Montgomery County, Missouri, expected to create more than 400 full-time jobs and thousands of construction roles. The site will use 138 MW of carbon-free energy capacity and include free-air cooling to limit water use to about 7% of the year. Amazon also pledged more than $7 million（約11億円） in community investments, including $3 million（約4.8億円） for emergency dispatch services.

Why it matters: Data centers are becoming the backbone of AI demand, and Amazon Web Services needs more capacity to keep pace with Microsoft, Google, and Meta. The project reflects Amazon's broader capital spending strategy—the company has reportedly outlined nearly $200 billion（約32兆円） in 2026 capital spending plans as large tech companies accelerate their AI infrastructure buildout. Investors responded positively, with Amazon's stock rising more than 3% on the announcement.

What to watch: The campus is designed to power about 28K homes worth of energy demand, and Amazon is working with Arable Labs on irrigation efficiency with a target of about 100 million gallons in annual water savings. These efficiency measures suggest Amazon is trying to balance rapid capacity expansion with environmental constraints.