Amazon invests $1.4B in housing, $230M in generative AI startups

The rooftop of the Nitze-Stagen Apartments in Seattle.

Amazon is dedicating significant funding to affordable housing and the development of new generative AI solutions.

The company is allocating new financial resources toward its Housing Equity Fund and its Amazon Web Services (AWS) Generative AI Accelerator programs. Summaries of each initiative follow:

Amazon Housing Equity Fund

Amazon launched its $2 billion Housing Equity Fund in January 2021 with the goal of creating and preserving 20,000 affordable homes across three of its hometown communities—Washington State’s Puget Sound region; the Arlington, Virginia/National Capital region; and Nashville, Tennessee—within five years. 

The fund is designed to help moderate- to low-income residents gain access to quality affordable housing, and Amazon says it has exceeded its original goal two years early by providing $2.2 billion to create and preserve more than 21,000 affordable homes. 

Amazon is now extending its commitment with an additional $1.4 billion in funding to create and preserve an additional 14,000 homes in these communities, bringing the total to more than $3.6 billion to fund more than 35,000 affordable homes across these three regions.

“We created the Amazon Housing Equity Fund to preserve and create homes that will remain affordable for the next century, ensuring families can stay in their communities for generations to come,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in a corporate blog post. “We hope that our additional commitment—coupled with other public and private resources—will help make a meaningful difference for thousands more people and enable these regions to thrive.”