Amazon’s cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), has largely restored services after a major outage at its Northern Virginia data center caused widespread disruptions across online platforms and enterprise systems.
The incident began Thursday when a rapid temperature increase at a single AWS facility in Northern Virginia reportedly caused power failures and service interruptions. AWS said engineers responded immediately and that recovery efforts were progressing, though complete restoration could still take several hours.
The outage affected several high-profile companies and digital services, including cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which later confirmed that its systems had been restored. Some users also reported issues involving financial and trading infrastructure linked to CME Group, although the exact connection to the AWS outage remained unclear.
Northern Virginia hosts AWS’s critical “US-East-1” cloud region, one of the world’s largest concentrations of data centers. Because many global apps and businesses rely heavily on this region, even localized failures can trigger worldwide disruptions.
Industry analysts say the outage highlights growing infrastructure challenges tied to modern AI and cloud computing workloads. Advanced servers generate extreme heat, forcing operators to invest heavily in cooling systems and power management. Reuters noted this is the second significant overheating-related issue involving AWS facilities in recent months.
AWS has experienced several notable outages in the North Virginia region over the years, including disruptions in 2017, 2021, and 2025 that impacted major internet services globally
