Anthropic signs $1.8 billion AI cloud deal with Akamai, Bloomberg News reports

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has signed a $1.8 billion computing deal with Akamai Technologies to meet surging demand for its AI software, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with ‌the ⁠matter.

Akamai ⁠shares rose 25% on Thursday after the ​company had disclosed a long-term cloud deal with a ​frontier model provider, without naming the partner, in its earnings statement.

In regular ​trading on Friday, the ⁠stock was ‌up about 28% at $149.05.


Both ​Akamai ​and Anthropic declined comment.

The cloud ⁠and cybersecurity firm forecast second-quarter revenue of ​between $1.08 billion and $1.10 billion, compared ​with analyst estimates of $1.10 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

CEO Tom Leighton told Reuters that Akamai is in a good position to secure ‌access to all the components, CPUs and GPUs, even as component prices ​have ​risen.

On ⁠Wednesday, Anthropic said it had reached a deal to tap the computing resources of Elon Musk's ​SpaceX, marking a rapprochement with a one-time critic and a boost for both companies in the competitive artificial intelligence race.