Anthropic Signs $11.6 Billion Akamai Computing Deal
Anthropic PBC has entered into a contract valued at $11.6 billion over seven years with Akamai Technologies Inc. for computing power, further expanding the AI developer’s portfolio of data center agreements. Akamai will supply Anthropic access to central processing units, or CPUs, a type of generalist chip that has experienced a resurgence in demand within data centers, where it is facilitating the support of AI services. Akamai has also issued a warrant that grants Anthropic the option to purchase Series B shares at a price of $111.33 each, which converts into 7.7 million shares of common stock. The agreement builds on a prior $1.8 billion computing deal that the two companies established earlier this year. Anthropic has experienced a significant increase in demand for its Claude software in recent months, as customers are increasingly turning to its tools to enhance the efficiency of coding and various other tasks.
The AI developer has engaged in a series of acquisitions aimed at securing the computing resources required to satisfy the increasing demand, collaborating with firms such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to gain access to chips. Akamai derives the predominant portion of its revenue from its content delivery and cybersecurity services. However, the company, in pursuit of additional growth opportunities, has been swiftly broadening its presence in the computing sector. The contract with Anthropic signifies the most substantial agreement in the cyber firm’s history, with the company projecting that its capital expenditures related to the Anthropic deal will reach approximately $5.5 billion—exceeding six times its total spending for the entirety of 2025. Shares of Akamai surged 17% in late trading on Thursday, reaching $129.60 around 4:10 pm. Akamai’s cloud business is “growing obviously extremely fast,” Akamai Chief Executive Officer Tom Leighton said in an interview. At this rate, the company’s revenue associated with cloud contracts may eclipse sales from its other segments “fairly soon,” he said. “We’re not looking necessarily at a long time frame for that to happen.”
Akamai stated that a portion of the warrant granted to Anthropic, accounting for approximately 2% of Akamai’s common stock, will vest in conjunction with the computing agreement anticipated to commence in the latter half of next year. The remainder is set to become accessible throughout the duration of the seven-year agreement. Some Wall Street investors have expressed apprehensions regarding circular AI deals, where cloud, hardware, and AI companies engage in mutual purchasing of products while simultaneously investing in each other. They argue that these agreements complicate the assessment of genuine demand for AI. This is the first time Akamai has agreed to such a warrant as part of a cloud deal with a customer, Leighton said. “It’s a serious step, but I think in this case it made sense to do,” he said. “It helps bring the companies together.”
Akamai expects revenue from the Anthropic business to total about $150 million to $300 million next year. “By the time we’re through to 2028,” Leighton said, “it’ll be an annual run rate of about $1.7 billion.” The majority of capital expenditures that Akamai intends to allocate for the Anthropic contract will be directed toward hardware, including servers, chips, and networking equipment, with a significant portion expected to take place in the upcoming year, according to Leighton. While recognising that it represents a significant increase in capital expenditure for the company, he noted that the returns are robust and that the company is in discussions for additional business with “all the major players”, including the largest data center operators referred to as hyperscalers and large enterprises.
