Akamai Lands Record $11.6B Anthropic AI Cloud Deal, Eyes $20B Potential

Key Points

• Akamai signed a record $11.6 billion, seven-year cloud infrastructure deal with Anthropic, focused on supporting the AI company’s growing CPU workload. The agreement lifts Akamai’s 2026 year-to-date signed contract value to approximately $14.4 billion.
• Revenue from the Anthropic contract is expected to begin in the second half of 2027, reaching an estimated annualized run rate of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028. Akamai plans roughly $5.5 billion in capital expenditures through 2028 to deploy the required infrastructure.
• The agreement includes an option for up to $9 billion in additional commitments, potentially bringing its total value to $20 billion. Anthropic also received warrants representing up to about 5% of Akamai’s outstanding shares, with vesting tied to committed revenue.

Akamai Technologies NASDAQ: AKAM said it has signed an $11.6 billion, seven-year commitment with artificial intelligence company Anthropic to provide cloud infrastructure services supporting Anthropic’s accelerating CPU workload demands.

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Tom Leighton called the agreement the largest contract in Akamai’s history. The deal uses Akamai Cloud’s distributed AI infrastructure and software, and it follows $2.8 billion in multiyear cloud infrastructure commitments Akamai signed earlier in 2026. Together, those agreements bring the company’s year-to-date signed total contract value to about $14.4 billion, according to Chief Financial Officer Ed McGowan.

Revenue ramp and capital spending

McGowan said Akamai does not expect revenue from the Anthropic agreement in 2026. Revenue is expected to begin during the second half of 2027, contributing approximately $150 million to $300 million for the full year. The company expects revenue to continue ramping through 2028 and to reach an annualized run rate of roughly $1.7 billion by the end of that year.

Once fully ramped, the contract’s take-or-pay structure is expected to keep revenue steady through the balance of the agreement, McGowan said. The revenue guidance incorporates the impact of warrant-related accounting and price escalators that must be straight-lined over the contract’s life.

Akamai expects to spend approximately $5.5 billion in capital expenditures over the next two years to support the $11.6 billion commitment. The planned spending includes:

• Approximately $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2026 for critical supply-chain components, including memory;
• About $3.1 billion in 2027; and
• Approximately $700 million in 2028 to complete capital deployments.

McGowan said depreciation will begin when equipment enters service and is expected to be substantially in line with revenue. Akamai has no contractual obligation to refresh or upgrade the equipment during the seven-year agreement. He said a seven-year depreciation assumption would be appropriate for the contract, while noting that Akamai has servers in its network that have operated for longer.

Potential expansion and warrant terms

The agreement also provides for a potential additional $9 billion in revenue commitments, which could bring the relationship’s total value to as much as $20 billion over seven years. McGowan said the additional amount is an option for future business rather than a milestone-dependent extension of the initial commitment. Any additional commitments would require further capital expenditures, he said.

As part of the arrangement, Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant to purchase up to 7.7 million common-share equivalents of Series B non-voting convertible preferred stock, equal to about 5% of shares outstanding. The warrants have an exercise price of $111.33 per common-stock equivalent, a seven-year term, and vest according to Anthropic’s committed revenue.

Approximately 3.1 million share equivalents, or 2% of shares outstanding, are expected to vest in connection with the announced $11.6 billion commitment. The remaining 3% could vest if Anthropic makes up to $9 billion in additional commitments, with roughly 1% vesting for each additional $3 billion.

Leighton said the warrant is intended to align incentives for future growth and described its financial value as small relative to the overall contract value. McGowan added that the warrant’s grant-date value is set when the contract is signed and will be deducted from revenue over the agreement’s life.

Infrastructure, power and financing

Akamai said the combined $14.4 billion in major multiyear cloud infrastructure contracts is expected to produce about $2.2 billion in annual recurring revenue when fully ramped. The company estimates those contracts will require about 95 megawatts to 105 megawatts of power, or roughly $22 million in annual revenue per megawatt across the portfolio.

McGowan said the Anthropic deal is entirely CPU-based, while Akamai’s broader portfolio of recently announced contracts includes a mix of CPU and GPU workloads. He said CPU deployments can provide greater power efficiency, though the company continues to see demand for both CPU and GPU infrastructure.

The infrastructure will be deployed across numerous colocation sites, though Akamai did not disclose a site count. McGowan said the company is using multiple colocation providers and is confident in its ability to secure capacity, with some capacity already secured. He added that new sites typically require 60 to 90 days to reach full revenue potential, which could temporarily pressure margins while deployments ramp.

To fund the capital program, McGowan pointed to Akamai’s $4.6 billion cash balance reported in the prior quarter, its $1 billion revolving credit facility, and the company’s profitable operations. He said management would consider additional capital if needed and would pursue what it believes is in shareholders’ best interests.

Leighton said Akamai’s agreement with Anthropic does not limit its ability to work with other AI companies, including hyperscalers, which he said are already Akamai customers. Both Leighton and McGowan said the large contract has expanded the company’s opportunity set by demonstrating its ability to operate at scale.

About Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM)

Akamai Technologies, Inc is a global technology company that provides cloud computing, content delivery and cybersecurity services. Its distributed platform helps businesses deliver websites, applications, software downloads, video and other digital content with improved speed, availability and scalability.

The company's offerings include content delivery and edge computing services, cloud infrastructure, web and application performance solutions, and security products designed to protect applications, application programming interfaces, networks and users from cyber threats.

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