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Anthropic struggles to get cloud capacity from AWS, Google and Microsoft, leaked S-1 says

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Anthropic struggles to get cloud capacity from AWS, Google and Microsoft, leaked S-1 says

Anthropic is having trouble securing enough cloud capacity from AWS, Google and Microsoft, according to an S-1 filing leaked to The Wall Street Journal and summarised by TechCrunch. The three hyperscalers, the filing indicates, increasingly see the Claude-maker as a competitor rather than a customer.

The leaked filing adds detail to numbers Reuters and the Financial Times reported in late September. Chief among them: Anthropic believes it could spend more than $750 billion on cloud contracts, and some of those deals are still in negotiation.

Even that is not enough. Anthropic is leasing its own data centers and working with third-party data center operators. But the company worries that those operators have a "limited operating history," which could make them less reliable than the hyperscalers.

The spending sits against heavy losses. Anthropic posted an $80.7 billion net loss in the first half of the year, on $16.3 billion in revenue over the same period. Only two customers account for about a fifth of sales, according to the WSJ report.

Building on catastrophic risk disclosures reported earlier, the filing also warns that Anthropic could be held liable for damages caused by harmful AI behavior, in an amount that would exceed its available insurance coverage.

On growth, the company told prospective investors last week that third-quarter revenue alone has reached $16.8 billion, up 45% from the previous quarter. Anthropic is reportedly targeting a November IPO. It did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.

Key facts

  • A leaked S-1 filing, reported by the WSJ, says Anthropic is having trouble securing enough cloud capacity from AWS, Google and Microsoft, which increasingly see it as a competitor.
  • Anthropic believes it could spend more than $750 billion on cloud contracts, some still in negotiation; Reuters and the FT reported the figure in late September.
  • First-half results: an $80.7 billion net loss on $16.3 billion in revenue, with two customers making up about a fifth of sales.
  • Anthropic told prospective investors that third-quarter revenue reached $16.8 billion, up 45% from the previous quarter; it is reportedly targeting a November IPO.
  • The filing warns that liability for harm caused by AI behavior could exceed Anthropic's insurance coverage.

Why it matters

Cloud capacity is the supply line for a model company, and the leaked filing says Anthropic cannot fully count on the three biggest providers because they increasingly treat it as a rival. The $750 billion in potential cloud commitments, set beside an $80.7 billion half-year loss, shows the scale of money involved ahead of a reported November IPO.

Who it affects

Prospective investors in an Anthropic IPO, who are being told about both fast growth and heavy losses. The cloud providers AWS, Google and Microsoft, named as reluctant suppliers. Third-party data center operators, whose track record Anthropic itself questions. Anthropic's customers, with two of them accounting for about a fifth of sales.

How to use it

There is nothing to run or buy here; this is a reporting story. For anyone tracking Anthropic as a vendor or an investment, the useful items are the cloud dependence, the customer concentration, the liability warning, and the official filing once it is made public.

How solid is it

The S-1 is leaked and not public, and TechCrunch relays it second-hand from the WSJ. The revenue and customer-concentration figures are attributed to the WSJ report. The $750 billion figure was previously reported by Reuters and the FT. The $16.8 billion third-quarter number is what the company told prospective investors, not a figure from the filing. The IPO timing is reported as a target only. Anthropic had not responded to a request for comment.

Risks and caveats

The article does not say which provider is limiting capacity or by how much, and gives no timescale for the cloud contracts. It does not name the two big customers or the third-party data center operators, and it gives no IPO valuation or raise size. Some of the cloud deals are still being negotiated, so the $750 billion is a belief about possible spending, not a committed total. The size of the insurance coverage and of any potential liability is not stated.

“limited operating history”

— Anthropic's S-1 filing, on third-party data center operators, as quoted by TechCrunch