&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Anthropic commits $11.6 billion to Akamai in AI cloud deal that could reach $20 billion")
Anthropic is committing $11.6 billion to Akamai's cloud infrastructure over seven years, marking the largest deal in the infrastructure company's history and another major expansion of the AI startup's computing capacity.
But there is an unusual twist: Akamai is giving Anthropic the right to acquire shares in the company, potentially allowing the AI developer to build a stake of around 5% in its own cloud supplier. The agreement could also grow to approximately $20 billion. The deal, announced by Akamai on Thursday, highlights how the AI boom is creating demand for more than powerful graphics processing units (GPUs). General-purpose central processing units (CPUs), which handle tasks such as running code and browsing the web, are becoming increasingly important as AI agents take on more work.
Anthropic's $11.6 billion deal could reach $20 billion
The new commitment is more than six times the $1.8 billion agreement between the companies reported by Bloomberg in May.
However, the seven-year deal is conditional. According to Akamai's securities filing, it depends on the company meeting delivery and service-availability requirements. Both sides can terminate the agreement under certain conditions.
The contract could expand by another $9 billion if Anthropic commits additional spending. For every additional $3 billion it commits to Akamai's cloud services, Anthropic unlocks roughly another 1% of the company's outstanding stock through a share warrant. A warrant gives its holder the right to buy shares at a specified price. In this case, the arrangement covers non-voting preferred stock convertible into 7.7 million common shares at $111.33 per share. Around 2% is expected to vest after Anthropic makes its first payment, with the remaining potential stake linked to further spending.
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Why Anthropic is betting on CPUs, not just GPUs
The agreement also reflects a shift in AI infrastructure demand. While GPUs are widely associated with training and running AI models, CPUs handle general-purpose computing tasks. These include running software, executing code and managing web-based activities. As AI agents become capable of carrying out multi-step tasks, demand for this computing capacity is growing. Akamai has not disclosed precisely how Anthropic will use the infrastructure. To support the agreement, Akamai expects to spend around $5.5 billion on additional capacity. It is also adding approximately $1.7 billion to its capital spending this year to purchase components, including memory, in advance.
Akamai expects billions in future revenue
The financial benefits will take time to arrive. Akamai does not expect revenue from the deal this year. Executives said on an investor call that 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, Akamai expects revenue from the agreement to reach an annual pace of approximately $1.7 billion. Akamai shares rose as much as 17% in after-hours trading on Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A different twist in AI's cloud spending race
The share arrangement reverses a more familiar pattern in AI infrastructure deals, where chipmakers and cloud providers invest in the AI companies that buy their products. Anthropic has already entered similar relationships with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and AMD, which have invested or agreed to invest in the company while supplying computing capacity or chips. AMD used a comparable warrant structure with OpenAI last year, tying potential share rights to chip-purchase milestones. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei previously told The New York Times that his company does not participate in such arrangements at the same scale as some other AI players. The bigger picture: Anthropic's Akamai agreement shows how AI infrastructure spending is expanding into cloud capacity, CPUs and long-term supply commitments. For Akamai, it offers a potential multibillion-dollar revenue stream, while Anthropic gets access to computing resources and a possible ownership stake in its supplier.
