Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has shared his thoughts on why many technology companies may be making a mistake by building their own data centres for artificial intelligence (AI). While Speaking at the 2026 New York Times DealBook Summit, the Amazon founder argued that companies like Meta and OpenAl constructing their own massive data centers is unnecessary and could cause more problems in the long run.
“Right now, everybody is building their own data center, their own generators essentially. And that’s not going to last,” Bezos said, recounting a visit to a 300 year-old Luxembourg brewery that once operated its own power plant. He predicts the industry will inevitably shift toward centralized cloud computing services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), which offer far greater efficiency and scale than isolated infrastructure projects.
Jeff Bezos compared the situation to the early days of electricity. In the past, factories produced their own power because there was no common electricity system. Once public power grids were introduced, it became clear that running individual power setups was inefficient and expensive. Jeff Bezos believes the AI industry is repeating the same mistake today.
Why Building Private Data Centres May Not Be Smart?
Many companies think owning data centres gives them more control. However, Jeff Bezos argues that this approach wastes money, energy, and time. Running large data centres is complicated and costly. It requires constant upgrades, skilled staff, and massive power supply.
Instead, he says companies should depend more on shared cloud platforms. Cloud services already provide strong computing power and can easily scale when demand increases. By using shared infrastructure, companies can focus more on innovation rather than managing heavy technical operations.
AI’s Growing Power Problem!
One of the biggest concerns Jeff Bezos highlighted is energy use. AI systems need a huge amount of electricity to run. As AI grows, data centres are using more power than ever before. In the coming years, electricity demand from data centres is expected to rise sharply.
Jeff Bezos believes energy, not technology, could soon become the biggest challenge for AI growth. Companies with inefficient data centres may struggle to keep up as power costs rise and energy availability becomes limited.
Jeff Bezos suggests that the future of AI should be built on shared, efficient ecosystem rather than isolated efforts. Centralised cloud platforms can reduce energy waste, lower costs, and make AI development more sustainable.
As AI becomes a bigger part of everyday life, how companies manage their infrastructure will matter a lot. Jeff Bezos’s message is simple smarter use of shared resources could be the key to building a better and more sustainable AI future.
