Anthropic Signs $1.8B, 7-Year Cloud Deal with Akamai

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has signed a seven-year, $1.8 billion cloud computing agreement with Akamai Technologies to expand capacity for its Claude AI models amid surging demand. Sources familiar with the matter confirmed the deal to Bloomberg News, following Akamai's disclosure last week of a major contract with an unnamed leading frontier model provider.

Akamai, during its first-quarter earnings call, described the pact as the largest in its history. Chief Executive F. Thomson Leighton highlighted the company's ability to secure necessary components like CPUs and GPUs despite rising prices. The announcement propelled Akamai's shares up 25 percent on Thursday and an additional 28 percent Friday, reaching about $149.05. Akamai projected second-quarter revenue between $1.08 billion and $1.10 billion, slightly below analyst expectations.

The agreement addresses Anthropic's rapid growth in AI usage. Chief Executive Dario Amodei noted significant increases in revenue and system activity during the first quarter. Customers had complained about limits on Claude products, including Claude Code and Claude Opus. In response, Anthropic recently raised usage caps for...