Akamai signs $11.6 billion seven-year deal to build compute for Anthropic

Akamai has signed a seven-year, non-exclusive contract with Anthropic worth a likely total of around $11.6 billion — the largest deal in Akamai's history.

The contract supports Anthropic's accelerating CPU workload demands with distributed cloud infrastructure, and carries an option to expand by another $9 billion in revenue commitments. Anthropic will also become a five percent shareholder in Akamai.

To meet its obligations, Akamai plans about $5.5 billion in capex: roughly $1.7 billion by the end of this year to pre-purchase critical components including memory, a further $3.1 billion in 2027, and $700 million in 2028. CEO Tom Leighton said the deal, combined with $2.8 billion in multi-year cloud commitments signed earlier this year, will significantly accelerate Akamai's cloud business and overall revenue growth.

The deal is non-exclusive — Anthropic remains free to buy from other cloud providers, so revenue realization depends on actual usage. The terms currently rest on company statements and media reporting, pending regulatory filings.