The seven-year deal, which could grow to roughly $20 billion, gives Anthropic CPU-based cloud capacity and hands Akamai warrants for up to a 5% equity stake.
Akamai Technologies will provide CPU-based cloud infrastructure to Anthropic under an $11.6 billion agreement spanning seven years, the two companies confirmed on September 25, 2026. The deal could grow to roughly $20 billion if Anthropic hits additional spending milestones, and it builds on a smaller $1.8 billion agreement the companies struck in May 2026.
What the deal covers
Under the agreement, Akamai will supply general-purpose CPU cloud capacity rather than the specialized GPU chips that dominate most AI infrastructure deals. Anthropic expects the arrangement to generate $150 million to $300 million in revenue for Akamai starting in the second half of 2027, ramping to an annualized pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028. Akamai says it will spend roughly $5.5 billion building out the necessary capacity, plus an additional $1.7 billion added to its 2026 capital budget for component procurement.
An equity stake tied to spending
As part of the agreement, Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for nonvoting preferred stock convertible into 7.7 million common shares, with a strike price of $111.33 per share. The warrant can grow to a maximum of 5% of Akamai's outstanding stock: about 2% vests once Anthropic makes its first payment, and roughly another 1% unlocks for every additional $3 billion in spending commitments Anthropic agrees to.
Market reaction
Akamai shares surged as much as 17% in after-hours trading Thursday on the news, though the stock pared some of those gains the following morning as broader market moves in bond yields and oil prices took over trading. The rally reflected investor enthusiasm for a company seen as a less-hyped corner of the AI infrastructure buildout, since demand for general-purpose CPU capacity has grown alongside AI agent deployment.
Part of a broader pattern
Why the equity stake matters
Anthropic has increasingly paired its infrastructure contracts with equity components, following a similar structure in deals with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and AMD. That approach is less common among rival AI labs, and it gives Anthropic potential upside in the infrastructure providers it depends on, rather than paying cash alone.
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