How does the warrant work?

Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for nonvoting preferred stock convertible into 7.7 million common shares, up to about 5% of outstanding stock, at $111.33 a share. About 2% vests after Anthropic's first payment, and each additional $3 billion in spending unlocks roughly another 1%.

When will Akamai see revenue from the deal?

Akamai won't see revenue this year. Executives expect $150 million to $300 million in 2027, starting in the second half, with revenue reaching an annual pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028.

What kind of chips does the deal involve?

The deal is a bet on CPUs, the general-purpose chips that handle work like running code and browsing the web. Demand for CPUs has grown as AI agents take on more tasks, though Akamai didn't say what Anthropic will use them for.

AI Business & IndustryTechCrunch AI2h agoSep 26, 2026, 06:00 JST

Anthropic commits $11.6 billion to Akamai cloud deal

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3 Key Points

What happened
Anthropic committed $11.6 billion over seven years to Akamai's cloud infrastructure, more than six times the $1.8 billion deal Bloomberg reported in May. Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant convertible into 7.7 million shares, up to about 5% of its stock, at $111.33 a share.
Why it matters
The arrangement flips the usual circular AI deal, where chipmakers and cloud providers invest in the labs that buy their products; here the supplier gives its customer a stake that grows with Anthropic's spending, and the commitment depends on Akamai meeting delivery requirements.
What to watch
Each additional $3 billion Anthropic commits unlocks roughly another 1% of the warrant, so the deal could grow by as much as $9 billion, to about $20 billion in total. Watch whether Anthropic keeps raising its commitment.

WHO IT HITSThis lands on Akamai shareholders, who saw the stock rise as much as 17% in after-hours trading, and on enterprise cloud buyers watching whether CPU-based infrastructure becomes a cheaper alternative to GPU-heavy capacity.

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Context & Analysis

The agreement builds on a prior relationship between the two companies. Bloomberg reported in May that they had struck a $1.8 billion deal, and the new commitment is more than six times that size. The contract is the largest in Akamai's history, and Akamai expects to spend about $5.5 billion to build out the capacity, plus about $1.7 billion added to this year's capital spending to buy components such as memory in advance.

The deal is also notable for its structure. In recent years, chipmakers and cloud providers have invested directly in the AI labs that buy their products — Amazon, Google, Microsoft and AMD have all invested or agreed to invest in Anthropic while selling it chips or cloud capacity. Here, the supplier gives its customer a potential stake instead. AMD used a similar structure with OpenAI last year, tying warrants to chip-purchase milestones. CEO Dario Amodei told The New York Times last December that Anthropic does not participate in these deals at the same scale as some other players.

What's at stake is whether CPU-based infrastructure becomes a meaningful alternative for AI workloads, and whether Anthropic keeps expanding its commitment. The commitment is not ironclad, and either company can end the agreement under certain conditions, so the ultimate size of the deal may hinge on Akamai meeting its delivery and service-availability requirements. For Akamai, the deal is a significant new revenue stream, though it won't see revenue this year.

FAQ

How does the warrant work?: Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for nonvoting preferred stock convertible into 7.7 million common shares, up to about 5% of outstanding stock, at $111.33 a share. About 2% vests after Anthropic's first payment, and each additional $3 billion in spending unlocks roughly another 1%.
When will Akamai see revenue from the deal?: Akamai won't see revenue this year. Executives expect $150 million to $300 million in 2027, starting in the second half, with revenue reaching an annual pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028.
What kind of chips does the deal involve?: The deal is a bet on CPUs, the general-purpose chips that handle work like running code and browsing the web. Demand for CPUs has grown as AI agents take on more tasks, though Akamai didn't say what Anthropic will use them for.

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