Anthropic Signs $11.6B Cloud Deal with Akamai Over Seven Years

Anthropic has committed to spending $11.6 billion over seven years on Akamai's cloud infrastructure, a deal that is unprecedented for Akamai as it includes a warrant. This follows a previous $1.8 billion agreement reported in May. Akamai expects to generate between $150 million and $300 million in revenue from this deal by 2027, with an anticipated annual revenue pace of $1.7 billion by the end of 2028. To support this agreement, Akamai plans to invest $5.5 billion in capacity expansion, alongside an additional $1.7 billion in capital spending this year for components. Anthropic will receive 7.7 million common shares convertible from nonvoting preferred stock, with a maximum of 5% of Akamai’s outstanding stock available for conversion. The deal could potentially grow to $20 billion, contingent on Anthropic's additional spending of $3 billion to unlock roughly another 1% of shares. Following the announcement, Akamai's shares rose by as much as 17% in after-hours trading. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, noted that the company does not engage in deals at the same scale as some other players in the industry.