Anthropic is committing $11.6 billion to Akamai’s cloud infrastructure over the next seven years, marking the largest cloud agreement in Akamai’s history and another major expansion of Anthropic’s computing capacity.
Akamai announced the agreement Thursday. The deal is significantly larger than the $1.8 billion arrangement between the two companies reported earlier this year. However, the full commitment depends on Akamai meeting specific delivery and service-availability requirements, and either company can terminate the agreement under certain conditions.
A Massive Expansion of AI Computing Capacity
The agreement highlights how quickly Anthropic’s demand for computing infrastructure is growing as it develops and operates increasingly capable AI systems.
Interestingly, the deal also puts a spotlight on CPUs, rather than the GPUs that typically dominate discussions about AI infrastructure.
CPUs are general-purpose processors used for tasks such as running software, executing code, and handling web-based workloads. Their importance has increased as AI agents take on more computer-based tasks, although Akamai has not disclosed exactly how Anthropic plans to use the capacity.
Akamai does not expect to generate revenue from the agreement during 2026. Executives said the company expects between $150 million and $300 million in revenue during 2027, beginning in the second half of the year. By the end of 2028, the company expects the deal to reach an annual revenue pace of roughly $1.7 billion.
Akamai Plans Billions in New Spending
Supporting Anthropic’s requirements will require a major investment from Akamai.
The company expects to spend approximately $5.5 billion expanding the infrastructure needed for the agreement. Akamai is also adding around $1.7 billion to its 2026 capital spending to secure components, including memory, ahead of demand.
The contract also includes an unusual financial arrangement.
Akamai has given Anthropic a warrant for nonvoting preferred stock that can eventually convert into approximately 7.7 million common shares, representing as much as about 5% of Akamai’s outstanding stock at an exercise price of $111.33 per share.
Around 2% is expected to become available after Anthropic makes its first payment. Additional portions are linked to Anthropic’s spending with Akamai. Every additional $3 billion in committed cloud spending could unlock roughly another 1% of the potential stake.
That means the current agreement could eventually expand by as much as $9 billion, potentially bringing the total value of the arrangement to approximately $20 billion.
An Unusual Twist on AI Infrastructure Deals
The warrant is particularly notable because Akamai is effectively giving its customer a potential ownership stake rather than simply investing in the AI company itself.
In many recent AI infrastructure arrangements, chipmakers and cloud providers have invested directly in AI companies that subsequently purchase their hardware or computing services.
Anthropic has participated in several of these types of partnerships. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and AMD have all invested or agreed to invest in Anthropic while also providing cloud infrastructure or AI chips.
A similar warrant-based structure was used by AMD in its relationship with OpenAI, where stock-related incentives were connected to chip-purchasing milestones.
Anthropic’s Infrastructure Appetite Continues
The Akamai agreement adds another major source of computing capacity for Anthropic as the company continues expanding its AI operations.
For Akamai, meanwhile, the contract represents a significant shift toward providing infrastructure for the rapidly growing AI market. The company is betting that demand for large-scale computing will continue to increase as AI systems move beyond simple chat interactions and perform more complex, autonomous tasks.
The market reacted positively to the announcement, with Akamai shares rising as much as 17% in after-hours trading on Thursday.
