Anthropic commits $11.6 billion to Akamai’s cloud services

Anthropic has committed $11.6 billion over seven years to Akamai’s cloud, and Akamai has issued the AI lab a warrant for up to about 5% of its common stock, Akamai said Thursday in a press release and a same-day SEC filing. The relationship could grow by up to $9 billion more, the company said.

The deal as Akamai describes it: Anthropic will use Akamai Cloud’s distributed infrastructure and software to handle fast-growing CPU workloads. Akamai calls it “a significantly expanded relationship.” According to the filing, the two companies signed two project plans on Sept. 18 under a master services agreement dated May 5. Anthropic has committed to pay about $11.6 billion under those plans, subject to termination rights and to Akamai meeting delivery and service-availability requirements. Each plan runs seven years from its own service start date. If the expansion happens, Akamai says the total potential commitment is about $20 billion. In May, Bloomberg News reported that Anthropic was the unnamed customer behind an earlier $1.8 billion Akamai cloud deal, according to Reuters.

The warrant: Akamai issued the warrant to Anthropic in exchange for Anthropic signing the larger of the two new project plans, the filing says. It lets Anthropic buy non-voting convertible preferred stock equal to about 7.7 million Akamai common shares at $111.33 a share, a price based on Akamai’s 30-day average. About 2% of Akamai’s stock is expected to vest with the initial commitment. The filing says that first tranche vests when Anthropic makes its first payment under the new plan. The remaining ~3% vests in steps of about 1% for each additional $3 billion that Anthropic commits, “at mutually agreed upon terms.” Anthropic must pay cash to exercise. The warrant can be transferred only within Anthropic, and the shares turn into common stock only if they leave Anthropic’s hands. Vested portions can be exercised for seven years.

Why it matters: A frontier AI lab has signed a multi-year order for CPU capacity from a company best known for content delivery and security. Akamai says the deal adds to the more than $2.8 billion in multi-year cloud commitments it had already announced this year. It estimates about $5.5 billion in total capital spending to deliver the $11.6 billion, including about $1.7 billion added to 2026 capex to pre-buy supply-chain components “including memory.” Akamai expects no change to its 2026 revenue guidance.

The stock: Akamai shares surged 22% in extended trading Thursday after the 4:01 p.m. ET release, Reuters reported in a later update. That was an after-hours move, not a regular-session close.

What Akamai says: “Anthropic is advancing the AI revolution and we are thrilled they chose Akamai’s capabilities for building and operating AI infrastructure at scale,” co-founder and CEO Tom Leighton said in the release. The release carries no Anthropic quote, and Anthropic had not commented publicly as of early Friday.

Who has a stake: Akamai shareholders get a large contracted backlog, along with a big capex bill and possible dilution from the warrant. Anthropic adds CPU capacity, plus equity upside tied to how much it spends. Suppliers stand to gain too: the filing discloses a new Lenovo hardware agreement and a Jabil order authorizing about $1.7 billion of memory components.

The fine print: Anthropic can end the master agreement over an uncured material breach, or if Akamai undergoes a change of control in favor of one of Anthropic’s direct competitors, the filing says. Anthropic can also end a project plan after a material outage, subject to conditions. The $11.6 billion is contracted but conditional.

What’s next: Whether any of the extra $9 billion becomes signed commitments, since each $3 billion vests another ~1%. When the service start dates begin, which starts the seven-year clocks. The full master agreement, due as an exhibit to Akamai’s third-quarter 10-Q. And whether the capex step-up changes Akamai’s free-cash-flow outlook.

— Nico Valdez