UK Urged to Probe £1.9bn JD.com Expansion; AWS Faces GPU Shortage
AMZN•UK lawmakers urged a probe into JD.com’s £1.9bn expansion and potential Argos and Very Group takeovers, potentially easing competition for Amazon’s British retail operations. Surging AI workloads outstripping GPU supply highlight AWS’s growth opportunity yet risk capacity constraints in key AI instance offerings.
1. UK Regulatory Headwinds and Retail Competition
UK MPs have called for an investigation into JD.com’s Joybuy expansion following its €2.2bn bid for Ceconomy and interest in Argos and Very Group, citing potential state subsidies. A successful probe could limit JD.com’s UK growth and reduce pressure on Amazon’s domestic marketplace share.
2. AWS Encounters AI Infrastructure Strain
Global AI adoption has driven unprecedented demand for GPU instances, with major cloud providers reporting shortages that constrain capacity. AWS, which relies on Nvidia’s chips for its EC2 P4 and P5 instances, may face delayed deployments even as customers flock to its AI-optimized offerings.
3. Long-Term AI Spending Boosts AWS Prospects
OpenAI’s projected $115bn infrastructure spend through 2029 underscores a multi-year tailwind for GPU compute providers. As enterprises scale AI initiatives, AWS stands to capture significant cloud revenue, provided it secures sufficient chip allocations to meet growing demand.
