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Anthropic commits $11.6 billion to Akamai in seven-year cloud deal

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Anthropic commits $11.6 billion to Akamai in seven-year cloud deal

Akamai said Thursday that Anthropic will spend $11.6 billion over seven years on Akamai's cloud infrastructure, more than six times the size of a $1.8 billion deal between the two companies that Bloomberg reported in May. The commitment is centered on CPU capacity rather than the GPUs that dominate most AI infrastructure deals, though Akamai did not say what Anthropic intends to use the chips for. The agreement is not ironclad: according to Akamai's securities filing, it depends on Akamai meeting certain delivery and service-availability requirements, and either company can end the agreement under certain conditions. Akamai called it the largest deal in company history. On an investor call Thursday, Akamai executives said the company will see no revenue from the deal this year, expecting $150 million to $300 million in 2027 and an annual revenue pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028. To build out the capacity, Akamai expects to spend about $5.5 billion, and it is adding roughly $1.7 billion to this year's capital spending to buy components such as memory in advance. As part of the deal, Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant, the right to buy shares at a set price, for nonvoting preferred stock convertible into 7.7 million common shares, or up to about 5% of Akamai's outstanding stock, at a strike price of $111.33 a share. About 2% of that stake is expected to vest once Anthropic makes its first payment; each additional $3 billion Anthropic commits to Akamai's cloud services unlocks roughly another 1%, meaning the deal could grow by as much as $9 billion, to about $20 billion in total. Bloomberg reported this is the first time Akamai has attached a warrant to a cloud deal. The structure reverses the more common pattern in recent AI infrastructure deals, where suppliers such as chipmakers and cloud providers invest directly in the AI labs buying their products; here the supplier is instead giving its customer a potential equity stake that grows with its own spending. AMD used a similar warrant structure with OpenAI last year, tying warrants to chip-purchase milestones. Anthropic already has comparable arrangements with other partners: Amazon, Google, Microsoft and AMD have all invested or agreed to invest in the company while also selling it chips or cloud capacity. CEO Dario Amodei told The New York Times last December that Anthropic does not participate in such deals at the "same scale as some other players." Akamai shares rose as much as 17% in after-hours trading on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Key facts

  • Anthropic will spend $11.6 billion over seven years on Akamai's cloud infrastructure, more than six times a prior $1.8 billion deal reported by Bloomberg in May
  • The deal, centered on CPU capacity, could grow by up to $9 billion to about $20 billion total as Anthropic's spending increases
  • Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant convertible into 7.7 million shares (up to about 5% of Akamai's stock) at $111.33 a share, the first time Akamai has attached a warrant to a cloud deal
  • Akamai expects $150 million to $300 million in revenue from the deal in 2027, reaching an annual pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028, while spending about $5.5 billion to build out capacity
  • Akamai shares rose as much as 17% in after-hours trading following the announcement

Why it matters

The deal shows Anthropic's compute buildout extending beyond GPUs into general-purpose CPU capacity, and it introduces a warrant structure that inverts the usual pattern in AI infrastructure deals: instead of a supplier investing in the AI lab it sells to, Akamai is giving its customer a potential equity stake that grows as Anthropic spends more. Akamai called it the largest contract in its history, and Bloomberg reported it is the first cloud deal to which Akamai has attached a warrant.

Who it affects

Anthropic and Akamai are the direct parties, but the structure echoes arrangements Anthropic already has with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and AMD, all of which have invested in or agreed to invest in Anthropic while also selling it chips or cloud capacity. AMD used a comparable warrant structure with OpenAI last year, tied to chip-purchase milestones, making this part of a broader pattern among AI labs and their infrastructure suppliers.

How to use it

There is no product for readers to adopt here; the deal's relevance is as a data point on the scale and structure of AI infrastructure financing. Akamai's own guidance gives concrete figures for tracking the arrangement's progress: no revenue in 2026, $150 million to $300 million in 2027, and an annual pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028, against roughly $7.2 billion in Akamai capital spending tied to the buildout.

How solid is it

The figures come from Akamai's own announcement, its securities filing, and comments from Akamai executives on an investor call, corroborated by Bloomberg's reporting on the warrant structure and the deal's history and The Wall Street Journal's reporting on the after-hours stock move.

Risks and caveats

The commitment is not guaranteed: per Akamai's securities filing, it depends on Akamai meeting certain delivery and service-availability requirements, and either company can end the agreement under specified conditions. Akamai did not disclose what Anthropic plans to use the CPU capacity for, and the deal's potential growth to $20 billion depends entirely on Anthropic committing additional spending beyond the initial $11.6 billion.

“same scale as some other players”

— Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, quoted to The New York Times in December