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Generated Title: Amazon's AI Play: Soros' Hedge or a Calculated Risk?George Soros, the ma... Generated Title: Amazon's AI Play: Soros' Hedge or a Calculated Risk?
George Soros, the man who famously "broke the Bank of England," has always been a fascinating character. His recent moves into Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL), two of the "Magnificent Seven" heavily invested in AI, raise some eyebrows, especially given his previously stated "instinctive opposition" to AI. Is this a contradiction, a hedge, or something else entirely? Let's dig into the numbers and see if we can find a clearer picture.
Soros Fund Management, while no longer actively run by Soros himself, holds a significant $28 billion in assets. The fund's Q3 activity shows a purchase of 1,843,329 AMZN shares, bringing their total stake to 2,226,187 shares, currently valued at $504 million. That's a substantial bet, no matter how you slice it. On the Alphabet side, they increased their holdings by 631,397 shares, now holding a total of 658,367 shares worth $210 million.
It’s tempting to see this as a simple "if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em" narrative. However, Soros' concerns about AI weren't just about technological disruption; they were about the potential for AI to empower closed societies and threaten open ones. So, why invest in the very companies driving this technology?
The Amazon Angle: AI as Infrastructure
Amazon’s AI strategy seems to be less about creating sentient beings and more about optimizing existing infrastructure. They're using AI to forecast demand, route packages, manage inventory, and power Alexa. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is also a major player, offering AI and machine-learning tools to developers and companies. AWS sales increased 20% year-over-year in 3Q25, reaching $33 billion (a figure, I should add, that many companies would kill for).
Needham analyst Laura Martin believes that Amazon is using GenAI to introduce new products to drive revenue. This is where the investment starts to make sense. Amazon isn't just building AI; it's building the tools to build AI, essentially selling shovels in the gold rush. Moreover, Amazon has data. Lots of it. As Martin points out, AMZN has best-in-class eCommerce data on consumers that feed its LLMs. This is a defensible moat, and one that Soros likely recognizes.
In fact, Amazon is poised to invest up to $50 billion to expand AI and supercomputing capabilities for the U.S. government. This includes building data centers with advanced compute and networking technologies. It's a play for the future of national infrastructure, and it's hard to argue with the potential upside. Amazon to spend up to $50 billion on AI infrastructure for U.S. government
The Google Conundrum: AI's Existential Threat?
Alphabet, on the other hand, presents a slightly different picture. While Amazon seems focused on AI as a tool, Google is pushing the boundaries of AI itself. Their release of Gemini 3, their most advanced AI model, highlights this. Gemini 3 Pro outperforms Gemini 2.5 Pro in visual reasoning, coding, and academic problem-solving. It is directly integrated into their search engine.
This is where Soros' initial concerns about AI become more relevant. Google's AI advancements could be seen as contributing to the very threat he warned against. Is Soros betting that Google can manage this risk, or is he simply hedging his bets against a future he fears?
Susquehanna analyst Shyam Patil remains positive on GOOGL, citing secular ad growth, cloud ramp, the emergence of AI, and a shareholder-friendly capital allocation approach. The fund's purchase of over 600,000 shares suggests they see similar potential. Still, I have to wonder if they've fully factored in the potential downsides of unchecked AI development.
I've looked at hundreds of these filings, and this particular investment strategy is unusual. It's not just about the potential for financial gain; it's about the future of society.
The Data Suggests a Calculated Gamble
Soros' investment in Amazon and Alphabet isn't a simple endorsement of AI. It's a calculated gamble based on the current landscape. Amazon's focus on AI infrastructure and data management aligns with a more pragmatic view of the technology, while Alphabet's advancements raise more complex questions about its potential impact. Whether this is a hedge against a dystopian future or a bet on American innovation remains to be seen. The numbers, as always, only tell part of the story.