Amazon is reportedly working on an internal project called “Project Houdini”, aimed at dramatically speeding up the construction of data centres that power the growing artificial intelligence industry. According to internal documents cited by Business Insider, the initiative focuses on shifting major parts of the construction process away from on-site work and into factory-based assembly, where large sections of data centres are prebuilt as modular units.
The goal of the project is to reduce the time required for Amazon Web Services (AWS) to bring new computing capacity online, while also cutting tens of thousands of on-site labour hours. In his annual shareholder letter, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted that the company continues to face “capacity constraints that yield unserved demand,” highlighting the need for faster infrastructure expansion.
As per internal notes, the current method of building data halls is highly manual, involving sequential on-site installation of racks, power systems, and cabling. This traditional “stick-built” approach typically requires between 60,000 and 80,000 labour hours and can take around 15 weeks before servers are even installed.
With Project Houdini, Amazon plans to move much of this work into controlled factory environments. The company is exploring the use of large preassembled modules, known as “skids,” which would arrive on-site fully equipped with racks, power distribution systems, cabling, lighting, and safety installations already in place.
Each of these modules would be roughly the size of a semi-trailer and weigh about 20,000 pounds. By using this approach, AWS aims to shorten deployment timelines significantly, allowing server installation to begin within two to three weeks instead of the current 15-week cycle.
The shift could also eliminate up to 50,000 on-site electrician hours per project and reduce dependence on local labour availability, while improving standardisation and construction efficiency.
Amazon is investing heavily in AI infrastructure, with capital expenditure estimated at around $20 billion, much of it directed toward expanding AWS data centre capacity. However, the company acknowledges that building these massive facilities remains slow and complex, making faster construction methods essential.
An AWS spokesperson told Business Insider that the company’s innovations in data centre construction are designed to deliver AI infrastructure faster and at lower cost, helping customers run increasingly demanding workloads.
