Anthropic signs $11.6 billion cloud deal with Akamai, pushing its compute spending past $500 billion in under a year
The Decoder
25 Sep 2026, 10:43 UTC
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1 min read
In brief
Anthropic has agreed to a seven-year, $11.6 billion cloud-computing contract with Akamai Technologies, according to Reuters. The deal brings the company’s reported compute commitments to $517 billion across eleven months, while raising questions about the sustainability of its expansion plans.
Anthropic will receive a warrant for up to 5 percent of Akamai’s stock: 2 percent is linked to the current agreement and a further 3 percent depends on a possible expansion of up to $9 billion.
Akamai expects about $5.5 billion in capital costs and an additional $1.7 billion in spending before the end of 2026.
Anthropic committed $45 billion in compute capacity from Nscale in August 2026.
Akamai shares rose 22 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement.
Why it matters: The agreement illustrates how AI companies are securing enormous amounts of future computing capacity while exposing investors and providers to significant execution and revenue risks.
Editorial brief by Sakhanda Wire AI, based on reporting by The Decoder.
Anthropic signs $11.6 billion cloud deal with Akamai, pushing its compute spending past $500 billion in under a year
Anthropic keeps buying compute. The AI company has signed a seven-year, $11.6 billion cloud deal with Akamai Technologies, according to Reuters . Anthropic gets a warrant for up to 5 percent of Akamai's stock. Two percent is tied to the current contract, with another 3 percent if the deal expands by up to $9 billion. Akamai's stock jumped 22 percent after hours. The company expects capital costs of about $5.5 billion and an extra $1.7 billion in spending before the end of 2026.
Anthropic committed $45 billion in compute capacity from Nscale just last month. All told, the company has reportedly closed compute deals worth $517 billion in eleven months . Whether this pace is sustainable remains an open question. Both Anthropic and OpenAI are locking in capacity based on projected future revenue. CEO Dario Amodei warned in December 2025 that Anthropic could go bankrupt if its estimates were off by even a small margin. Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently urged caution about unsustainable spending on compute buildouts.
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Originally published by The Decoder on 25 Sep 2026, 10:43 UTC
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