Anthropic Plans to Spend $518 Billion on Cloud and Computing Power
Key Points
Anthropic will likely go public in November.
The company's revenue sources are highly concentrated among a few large customers.
That $518 billion in planned capex will be spread over the next decade.
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Anthropic plans to go public in the near future, and its draft initial public offering (IPO) prospectus outlines what may lie ahead for the AI developer. The headline figure says it all: Anthropic plans to spend more than half a trillion over the next decade on cloud, computing, and infrastructure. The story is that the company wants to grow its top line as quickly as possible, even if that means booking hefty losses along the way.
Dario Amodei: Image source: Getty Images.
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Jaw-dropping losses, but revenue is growing rapidly
The sheer scale of that spending plan is jaw-dropping. In 2025, the more than $7 billion Anthropic spent on computing accounted for more than half of its $12.65 billion in operating expenses. The company also posted an $8 billion operating loss.
On the positive side, Anthropic's revenue grew 12-fold to almost $4.6 billion in 2025, and by July 2026, its annualized revenue run rate reportedly hit $65 billion. With that level of revenue, $518 billion in spending doesn't seem so outrageous when spread over a decade. That's good news for potential investors.
Apparently, however, about 80% of that $518 billion is non-cancellable spending, so Anthropic can't afford any hiccups in its execution. If only its revenue were as certain. Nearly a quarter of Anthropic's revenue came from just two customers, and many of its larger clients are not on long-term contracts.
Not much room for error
This risk is hard to ignore. As CEO Dario Amodei's artificial intelligence (AI) company aims for a $2 trillion valuation at IPO, it is betting growth will continue at this breakneck pace. I'm not so sure it will or can unless it diversifies its customer base and secures more long-term, rainmaking contracts.
Although this could be the largest IPO in history, I will remain on the sidelines until Anthropic can reduce its customer concentration problem. There are plenty of alternative stocks that provide exposure to Anthropic without adding it directly to your portfolio. Two that come to mind are Amazon and Alphabet, both of which are large investors in Anthropic and partners with it. Broadcom is also a major supplier of AI processors to the company and a solid choice for those who are unsure that the AI space will maintain its rapid pace of growth.
Anthropic wants investors to believe in its high-conviction growth bets. To succeed, the company will need demand for AI to continue accelerating. I'm not sold on the premise that it will. The revenue trajectory looks a bit too rosy for me now, while the sky-high valuation at which it will go public leaves little room for error. If you're skeptical too, then waiting a few quarters post-IPO to see how Anthropic's revenue is progressing would be the smarter move.
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Catie Hogan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, and Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
