The biggest contract in Akamai's history flips the usual AI-deal script — the cloud supplier is handing shares to its customer. What to watch: whether AI infrastructure spending shifts from GPUs to CPUs as agentic workloads grow.
September 25, 2026 — Anthropic has committed to spend $11.6 billion over seven years on Akamai Technologies' cloud capacity, in what Akamai says is the largest deal in its history. The twist: Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for up to 7.7 million shares — roughly 5% of Akamai's stock — making it the first warrant the company has ever attached to a cloud contract.
Image: Illustration of a futuristic cloud network: glowing server-node pillars over a stylized city grid at dusk, linked by bright cyan lines to a circuit-patterned emblem above. Credit: Red Eye Eagle News / original AI illustration.
Editor's Highlight: The headline number is not the story — the equity is. Usually suppliers invest in AI labs; here the supplier is effectively paying the customer in stock, a first for Akamai.
Table of Contents
- Key Facts
- What the deal covers
- The equity twist: a supplier paying its customer in shares
- Market reaction and the money timeline
- Why CPUs, not GPUs
- A flipped AI-deal playbook
- Bottom Line
- FAQ
- Sources
Key Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Deal value | $11.6 billion over seven years, per Akamai's announcement |
| Announced | Thursday, September 24, 2026 |
| Maximum expansion | Up to $9 billion more, for ~$20 billion total |
| Warrant | Up to 7.7M shares (~5% of Akamai) at $111.33/share |
| Warrant vesting | ~2% with the initial commitment; ~1% per additional $3B purchased |
| Workload type | CPU capacity (not GPU), per Akamai's statement |
| Revenue timing | None in 2026; $150–$300M in 2027 (H2); ~$1.7B annual pace by end of 2028 |
| Prior deal | More than 6× the $1.8B Anthropic–Akamai commitment reported in May 2026 |
What the deal covers
Akamai announced on September 24, 2026 that Anthropic will purchase roughly $11.6 billion in cloud capacity over seven years — the largest contract Akamai has ever signed. The capacity is CPU-based, not the GPUs that usually dominate AI headlines.
According to Akamai's statement, the deal addresses growing demand for CPU workloads at scale as AI systems take on more tasks.
Newsroom Focus: The CPU detail is the dog that didn't bark. Nearly every AI infrastructure deal in the last two years has been about GPUs; a $11.6B bet on general-purpose CPUs suggests the bottleneck is moving.
The equity twist: a supplier paying its customer in shares
Alongside the cash commitment, Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for up to 7.7 million shares of Akamai common stock at $111.33 per share — about 5% of the company's outstanding shares. Roughly 2% vests with the initial commitment, and each additional $3 billion Anthropic commits unlocks about 1% more equity.
The math is unusually legible: about 1% of the supplier per $3 billion spent — and Akamai has never attached a warrant to a cloud deal before.
Analysis Note: This reverses the familiar "circular AI deal" pattern, in which suppliers invest in labs to guarantee future purchases. Here the customer is being paid in equity to lock in supply — a sign of who currently holds leverage.
Market reaction and the money timeline
Investors noticed. Akamai shares surged 22% in extended trading after the announcement, according to Reuters. But the money arrives slowly: Akamai expects no revenue from the deal in 2026, $150–$300 million in 2027 starting in the second half, and an annual revenue pace of about $1.7 billion by the end of 2028.
To build the capacity, Akamai is raising its 2026 capital spending by $1.7 billion to pre-buy memory — spending real cash now on the bet that Anthropic's demand materializes.
| Year | Expected revenue pace |
| 2026 | $0 |
| 2027 (H2) | $150–$300 million |
| End of 2028 | ~$1.7 billion annual pace |
Why CPUs, not GPUs
The CPU focus reflects how AI workloads are changing. As AI agents take on more tasks — browsing the web, running code, calling tools — demand for general-purpose CPU compute is growing alongside the better-known GPU demand for model training.
Akamai's distributed edge infrastructure fits that profile: millions of small, latency-sensitive agent tasks benefit from compute spread across many locations.
Practical Takeaway: Readers tracking the AI infrastructure story should stop equating it with GPUs alone. The next phase of spending is about the ordinary processors that run agents at scale — and this deal puts a $11.6B price tag on that shift.
A flipped AI-deal playbook
TechCrunch notes that chipmaker AMD used a similar warrant structure in a deal with OpenAI last year — but with AMD as the supplier granting equity to the customer, the mirror image is now the pattern. Two deals make a playbook.
Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne called it a vote of confidence in AI-driven cloud demand, per TechCrunch. Reuters also reported a $45 billion Anthropic–Nscale campus deal last month — the Akamai contract is part of a much larger capacity land grab.
The May 2026 Anthropic–Akamai commitment was reportedly $1.8 billion — the new deal is more than six times larger. Whether Anthropic takes the optional $9 billion expansion to ~$20 billion will show if this is the new template for locking in distributed cloud capacity.
Bottom Line
Anthropic's $11.6B, seven-year commitment makes Akamai a core supplier — and the 5% equity warrant sets a new template for compute deals. What to watch: the $9B expansion option and whether other suppliers start paying customers in shares.
FAQ
What exactly did Anthropic agree to buy?
Anthropic committed to buy about $11.6 billion in Akamai cloud services over seven years, focused on CPU workloads — announced September 24, 2026.
Why is the warrant unusual?
Usually suppliers invest in AI labs; here Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for up to ~5% of its stock at $111.33/share — Akamai's first warrant on a cloud deal.
Can the deal grow to $20 billion?
Yes, optionally. Each additional $3 billion Anthropic commits unlocks about 1% more equity, up to $9 billion more (~$20 billion total). The expansion is an option, not a committed purchase.
When does Akamai see revenue?
None in 2026. Akamai expects $150–$300 million in 2027 starting in the second half, reaching about $1.7 billion in annual revenue pace by the end of 2028.
What will Anthropic use the capacity for?
Akamai says CPU workload growth at scale but did not specify the workloads. CPU demand is rising as AI agents take on more tasks, according to TechCrunch.
Sources
- TechCrunch (Aditya Mehta), "Anthropic to pay Akamai $11.6 billion over seven years in cloud deal" — full deal details, warrant structure, CPU angle, revenue/capex timeline.
- Reuters via SRN News (Harshita Mary Varghese), "Anthropic signs $11.6 billion cloud deal with Akamai, gets warrant for up to 5% stake" — announcement-day coverage, share surge, warrant terms, Nscale context.
- Bloomberg Podcasts, "Akamai-Anthropic Deal; People Inc. Gains as MGM Mulls Making a Bid; Costco Beats | Stock Movers" — embedded video, published September 25, 2026.
- Original AI-generated illustration for Red Eye Eagle News (hero image)
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