Anthropic Commits $35 Billion to Compute Without Raised Funds
On September 1, 2026, Anthropic agreed to a $35 billion computing deal with Lambda, a cloud provider backed by NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), according to Bloomberg. The contract is part of an ongoing race for scarce compute resources in the AI sector and functions as a multi-year take-or-pay agreement that resembles a lease rather than a utility bill. The financial burden falls on chip suppliers like NVIDIA, which provides GPUs used in Lambda’s data centers and earns rental revenue from this deal. Anthropic has not yet raised the funds to fulfill its obligations under the contract, raising concerns about potential funding gaps. Analyst Neil Campling suggested that an IPO may be necessary for Anthropic to secure capital. The arrangement highlights a broader trend where private AI companies are locking in compute capacity through large contracts before securing financing. This creates unfunded counterparty risk and exposes chipmakers like NVIDIA and AMD, which also has deals with Anthropic and OpenAI.
