Anthropic Commits $11.6B to Akamai in Seven-Year Cloud Pact

Anthropic will spend $11.6 billion over seven years on Akamai's cloud infrastructure, Akamai said Thursday, according to TechCrunch. The commitment is the largest in Akamai's history and more than six times the size of a $1.8 billion deal between the two companies that Bloomberg reported in May.

How Much Is Anthropic Paying Akamai?

The total value is $11.6 billion across seven years, per Akamai's securities filing cited by TechCrunch. To build out capacity for the deal, Akamai expects to spend about $5.5 billion. The company is also adding roughly $1.7 billion to this year's capital budget to buy components such as memory in advance.

What Equity Stake Did Anthropic Receive?

Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for nonvoting preferred stock convertible into 7.7 million common shares, or up to about 5% of Akamai's outstanding stock, at $111.33 a share. About 2% is expected to vest once Anthropic makes its first payment under the deal. The remainder unlocks as spending grows: each additional $3 billion Anthropic commits triggers roughly another 1% of equity. That structure means the contract could expand by as much as $9 billion, to about $20 billion total, TechCrunch reported.

It is the first time Akamai has attached a warrant to a cloud contract. The arrangement inverts the more common pattern in AI infrastructure deals, in which chipmakers and cloud providers invest directly in the labs that buy their products. Here, the supplier is granting its customer a potential ownership stake instead. AMD used a similar structure with OpenAI last year, tying warrants to chip-purchase milestones.

Why Is Akamai Betting on CPUs?

The deal centers on CPU capacity — general-purpose chips that handle tasks like running code and browsing the web — rather than the GPUs typically associated with AI training. Demand for CPUs has grown as AI agents take on more of that work, according to TechCrunch. Akamai did not say what Anthropic will use the capacity for.

When Will Akamai See Revenue From the Deal?

Akamai won't book revenue from the contract this year. On an investor call Thursday, executives said they expect $150 million to $300 million in 2027, starting in the second half. Revenue is projected to reach an annual pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028. Akamai shares rose as much as 17% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

Is the Contract Guaranteed?

No. The commitment depends on Akamai meeting certain delivery and service-availability requirements, according to the company's securities filing. Either company can end the agreement under certain conditions, TechCrunch reported.

Anthropic has struck similar supplier arrangements before. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and AMD have each invested in or agreed to sell cloud capacity or chips to the company. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told The New York Times in December that Anthropic does not participate in such deals at the "same scale as some other players."