Already Microsoft has put the kybosh on its data centre plans indicating that now is not the time for expensive expansion. But now it appears that its cloudy rival Amazon has gone the same way.

According to Wells Fargo analysts, AWS is “pausing a portion of its leasing discussions on the colocation side,” echoing Microsoft’s move last week to stall early-stage build-outs.

While neither outfit is tearing up signed contracts, both are tightening belts and slowing expansion just months after hyping massive spending plans to keep up with the generative AI gold rush.

The cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street have already started punishing the pullback. Amazon’s stock has slumped 25 per cent this year, with Microsoft not far behind, down 15 per cent. That slide accelerated after Trump’s latest tariff threats, which could balloon hardware costs and freeze cloud expansion.

AWS vice president of global data centres Kevin Miller insisted this is just “routine capacity management” and claimed there were “no recent fundamental changes” to expansion plans.

Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC there’s no plan to slow data centre construction—though the timing of this “routine” adjustment suggests otherwise.

Cloud giants have been throwing billions at Nvidia for GPUs and racing to build out infrastructure. But with capital drying up and political uncertainty on the rise, the mad dash is showing signs of becoming a cautious shuffle.

Wells Fargo, not exactly gushing with confidence, is keeping a hold rating on Amazon shares. All eyes now turn to next week’s earnings, where the market will be looking for more than LinkedIn spin.