Number of Amazon Workers on Food Stamps Triples as Company Spends $200 Billion on AI

The number of Amazon workers enrolled in federal food and health assistance programs has nearly tripled since 2020, a new government report reveals, as the company prepares to spend $200 billion on artificial intelligence infrastructure in 2026.A Government Accountability Office study, commissioned by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, analyzed enrollment data from 11 states representing roughly one-fifth of the U.S. population. It found that 12,346 Amazon workers were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and 11,338 were covered by Medicaid — figures nearly triple those recorded in the agency’s 2020 report.Amazon ranked second among traditional employers of public assistance recipients behind Walmart, which had 16,055 workers on Medicaid — a 55 percent increase from the earlier report — and 15,515 on SNAP. “American taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the starvation wages of large corporations like Walmart and Amazon,” the Vermont independent said in a statement. “No one who works for a company making billions in profits should be living in poverty.”Gig platforms, including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Grubhub, and Instacart, collectively surpassed Walmart to become the largest category of SNAP recipients, underscoring how contract labor has reshaped the low-wage workforce.“These corporations are making record-breaking profits, paying their CEOs exorbitant compensation packages and spending billions of dollars on stock buybacks to enrich their wealthy shareholders. It is beyond unacceptable that these corporations, owned by some of the wealthiest people on the planet, are receiving corporate welfare from the federal government,” Mr. Sanders said. “It is time for the Walton family, worth $485 billion, and Mr. Bezos, worth $257 billion, to get off of welfare and pay their workers a living wage with good benefits. This is especially true after these corporations and their multibillionaire owners received a massive tax break from President Trump’s so-called ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ paid for by the largest cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in history,” he said.Amazon has pushed back on the GAO’s conclusions. Spokeswoman Rachael Lighty argued that SNAP and Medicaid eligibility are calculated on total household income and family size, not individual wages — and that the company’s part-time workforce options naturally skew eligibility figures.“Employers that offer part-time options for those who want them, like we do, are likely to have more people who are eligible,” Ms. Lighty said in a statement to CNN.The company also noted a $1 billion investment announced in late 2025 to boost pay and reduce healthcare costs for fulfillment and transportation workers, raising the average base pay to more than $23 an hour.Nationally, the GAO estimates 13.8 million working Americans are enrolled in Medicaid, up from 12 million in 2020, and 10.6 million are receiving SNAP benefits, up from nine million. Most recipients work full-time schedules, with the majority employed in transportation, food preparation, and related fields.The findings land as Amazon’s financial position has never been stronger. The company posted annual revenue of $716.9 billion in fiscal 2025, with operating income of $79.9 billion and annual profit growing from $11.6 billion to $77.7 billion over the period covered by the GAO study. On its Q4 2025 earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy told investors the company planned approximately $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026 — a roughly 60 percent increase from 2025 — primarily to expand AWS infrastructure and meet surging AI compute demand.

Number of Amazon Workers on Food Stamps Triples as Company Spends $200 Billion on AI

Number of Amazon Workers on Food Stamps Triples as Company Spends $200 Billion on AI

More from the New York Sun

More on What the Press Won’t Tell You — and That’s the Strong Trumpian Economy

‘Serious Mistakes’ on Communist China Are Laid to Harvard

Vetting the Pied-à-Terre Tax

Trump Gambles — and Comes Up Snake Eyes — on a Powerful Prosecutorial Appointment in Nevada

Swedish Politician Wears Star of David During Debate To Highlight Antisemitism

Boxing Champion Vows To Honor Hayden Panettiere’s Legacy for Their Daughter After Tragic Death

Air Strike on a Syrian Airbase, Widely Attributed to Israel, Raises Mideast Tensions

Minnesota Files Lawsuit To Force Texas To Extradite Ice Agent

More from the New York Sun

More on What the Press Won’t Tell You — and That’s the Strong Trumpian Economy

‘Serious Mistakes’ on Communist China Are Laid to Harvard

Vetting the Pied-à-Terre Tax

Trump Gambles — and Comes Up Snake Eyes — on a Powerful Prosecutorial Appointment in Nevada

Swedish Politician Wears Star of David During Debate To Highlight Antisemitism

Boxing Champion Vows To Honor Hayden Panettiere’s Legacy for Their Daughter After Tragic Death

Air Strike on a Syrian Airbase, Widely Attributed to Israel, Raises Mideast Tensions

Minnesota Files Lawsuit To Force Texas To Extradite Ice Agent