Akamai Technologies has signed a seven-year cloud services agreement with Anthropic carrying $11.6 billion in contractual commitments, as the Claude developer expands the computing infrastructure behind its artificial-intelligence products.
Under the agreement announced on September 24, Anthropic will use Akamai Cloud’s distributed infrastructure and software to support growing central processing unit workloads. The companies may expand the relationship by up to an additional $9 billion over the same term, which Akamai describes as a total potential commitment of approximately $20 billion.
The announcement does not disclose capacity, service pricing, a deployment timetable or how the workloads will be distributed geographically. It refers specifically to CPU workloads rather than a dedicated graphics processing unit training buildout.
Agreement links cloud spending to an equity warrant
Akamai has issued Anthropic a warrant to buy non-voting convertible Series B preferred stock representing 7.7 million Akamai common shares on an as-converted basis. If fully vested and exercised, the warrant could give Anthropic the equivalent of approximately 5 percent of Akamai’s outstanding common stock.
The exercise price is $111.33 per common-equivalent share. A portion representing approximately 2 percent of Akamai’s outstanding common stock is expected to vest in connection with the initial $11.6 billion commitment.
The remaining approximately 3 percent is conditional on expansion of the commercial relationship. Each additional $3 billion purchase of cloud services on mutually agreed terms would cause another approximately 1 percent portion to vest. The potential $9 billion expansion is therefore neither part of the current committed amount nor guaranteed.
Akamai shares rose 22 percent in extended trading after the announcement, according to Reuters coverage carried by CNA. The warrant gives Anthropic a potential equity interest in the infrastructure provider, but it should not be treated as a current 5 percent holding.
Akamai plans $5.5 billion in related capital spending
Akamai estimates total capital expenditure related to the initial commitment at approximately $5.5 billion. It expects to increase 2026 capital spending by approximately $1.7 billion to secure and pre-purchase critical supply-chain components, including memory.
The company said the agreement would not affect its 2026 revenue guidance. The $11.6 billion figure is a contractual commitment covering seven years, not revenue to be recognized immediately, and Akamai did not disclose the expected annual revenue schedule or contract margins.
The deal adds to more than $2.8 billion in multi-year Cloud Infrastructure Services commitments that Akamai said it had previously announced across its customer base this year. In May, Akamai disclosed that an unnamed frontier-model provider had made a $1.8 billion, seven-year commitment for the same business. The September announcement calls the Anthropic relationship significantly expanded but does not specify how the earlier commitment is treated within the new figure.
Deal deepens Akamai’s AI infrastructure push
Akamai is positioning its network of core and edge facilities as an alternative source of compute for AI companies seeking capacity beyond the largest cloud platforms. Its cloud network spans thousands of points of presence and uses a mix of hardware intended to run and deliver applications closer to users.
Chief Executive Tom Leighton said the agreement reflected Anthropic’s choice of Akamai for “building and operating AI infrastructure at scale.” That statement remains a company assessment; the release provides no performance benchmarks, committed service levels or workload volumes for the Anthropic deployment.
The size of the contract illustrates how AI developers are locking in long-term infrastructure as model usage grows, while providers invest ahead of the associated revenue. For Akamai, execution will depend on obtaining components, bringing capacity online and meeting Anthropic’s requirements without materially weakening returns.
For Anthropic, the agreement broadens its infrastructure supplier base. The companies did not disclose whether the new Akamai capacity will replace other providers or operate alongside them, and no Asia-Pacific capacity allocation was announced.
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