Anthropic’s Spending on AMD Systems Could Exceed $20 Billion, Subject to Conditions
Key Facts
Anthropic said in a public registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 26, 2026, that it expects its total spending to exceed $20 billion if it purchases all of the initial computing capacity agreed with AMD. The agreement does not set a fixed financial commitment, as the estimate depends on how much capacity the company actually buys. It covers AMD’s Helios systems, integrated rack-scale computing systems equipped with Instinct processors from the MI450 series. Anthropic may buy, lease or access the systems, according to the registration statement. The company plans to take delivery of the initial tranche of computing capacity during 2027, while AMD said deployment of the first gigawatt is expected to begin in the first half of that year.
The deal combines computing capacity supply with a potential investment by AMD in its customer: AMD has committed to buy Class N shares in Anthropic worth up to $5 billion. Anthropic will be able to request amounts in installments after completing specified milestones for the delivery and deployment of AMD processors. The company expects the first of these milestones to be reached during 2027, according to the registration statement. After the public offering, the share price will be set based on the 30-day volume-weighted average price of Class A shares before the purchase is completed. The drawdown request must also be submitted within 12 months of the completion of AMD’s capacity delivery and deployment, linking the timing and size of the financing to implementation milestones.
The deal comes as Anthropic records rapid revenue growth alongside a sharp increase in computing spending. The company generated revenue of $16.286 billion in the six months ended June 30, 2026, compared with $1.163 billion in the same period of 2025, an annual increase of 1300%. Computing and infrastructure expenses rose to $8.945 billion from $2.334 billion, an increase of 283%. Even so, those expenses fell to 55% of revenue in the first half of 2026, down from 201% a year earlier. Anthropic said the $6.6 billion increase in computing and infrastructure expenses resulted from taking delivery of previously committed capacity, as well as increased use of third-party cloud computing services to meet demand.
The registration statement reported a net loss of $80.748 billion in the first half of 2026, compared with $12.969 billion in the same period a year earlier. But the 2026 loss included a $72.4 billion change in the fair value of convertible notes, derivative liabilities and simple investment agreements. That change was driven mainly by an increase in the fair value of convertible notes as the company’s valuation rose. Beyond supplying the systems, the companies’ collaboration includes a multiyear engineering component. AMD said the companies will use Claude to optimize workloads on Instinct accelerators and accelerate development of ROCm software. It added that its engineering and product development teams will rely extensively on Claude.
The deployment of Helios systems extends Anthropic’s existing use of AMD processors. The company said the new systems, equipped with MI455X processors from the MI450 series, build on its current use of MI355X processors. When the partnership was announced on July 22, 2026, Tom Brown, Anthropic’s co-founder and head of compute, said, "Access to computing capacity is essential to keeping Claude at the forefront of the field and meeting our customers’ demand." AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su said building infrastructure at this scale requires planning 12, 18 and 24 months in advance. AMD shares rose 2.4% on July 22 after the partnership was announced, according to a Reuters report. On October 26, the company’s shares rose 2.5% as AI-linked stocks advanced after Anthropic disclosed its public offering papers, amid investor concerns about debt-funded infrastructure spending.