American tech giant Anthropic is set to pour a staggering $11.6 billion into Akamai’s cloud infrastructure over the next seven years, making it the largest deal in Akamai’s history. This move signals a significant shift in AI infrastructure, as Anthropic eyes the less-fancied CPUs for its growing computing needs.

Akamai won’t see the money this year, but by 2028, annual revenue is expected to reach $1.7 billion. In return, Anthropic gets a sweet deal: a warrant to buy up to 5% of Akamai’s common shares, with the potential to grow as its spending increases.

For Akamai, this is a bold gamble. The company will invest around $5.5 billion to build out capacity, with an additional $1.7 billion this year to stock up on memory and other components. The bet on Anthropic, a company not always in the spotlight, could pay off, but only if it spends as promised.

While the deal is historic, it’s part of a broader trend. Other tech giants like AMD have used similar structures, tying investments to chip-purchase milestones. Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, has admitted that his company doesn’t participate in such deals on the same scale as some of its competitors, suggesting a more cautious approach to investment.