Akamai Signs Record $11.6 Billion Seven-Year Cloud Deal With Anthropic, Stock Surges Up to 23%

Akamai Technologies sealed an $11.6 billion, seven-year cloud computing agreement with AI firm Anthropic, the largest contract in the company's history, sending shares surging as much as 23% in premarket trading on September 25 before settling up roughly 14% to around $126 during the session. Under the terms, Anthropic will pay Akamai for access to CPU capabilities across Akamai Cloud's distributed AI infrastructure and software, reflecting the intensifying demand for compute capacity as AI developers scale their workloads.

The deal represents a dramatic expansion of the two companies' existing relationship. TechCrunch reported the agreement is more than six times larger than a prior $1.8 billion arrangement between Akamai and Anthropic that Bloomberg had reported in May. Wall Street interpreted the announcement as a repositioning of Akamai, long known as a content delivery and cybersecurity company, into a serious AI infrastructure provider, with peers CoreWeave and Cloudflare also ticking higher in sympathy.

Akamai shares had already gained 39.9% year-to-date before the announcement. Options markets showed elevated activity, with unusual put volume in AKAM December 2027 $90 puts also appearing in end-of-day recap data, suggesting some traders are hedging against a longer-term pullback even as the stock posted one of the best single-day moves among S&P 500 components on the day.