Anthropic Reports Rising Compute Costs

Anthropic’s updated S-1 filing, released Monday, November 2, adds financial results through September 30 and shows compute costs consuming a larger share of revenue. Revenue reached $17 billion, up from $11.5 billion in the previous quarter, while the company’s operating loss also grew, largely because of rising compute expenses. The earlier filing covered results only through June 30.

Compute accounted for 58% of revenue in the quarter, compared with 48% in the prior quarter. Revenue per dollar spent on compute had risen steadily since the start of 2025, peaked at just over 2x in the latest quarter, then fell to 1.72x. Anthropic’s compute bill reached $10 billion for the quarter, including $5.0 billion under short-term commitments that cost significantly more than comparable compute secured through multi-year agreements.

The filing says demand grew so quickly that Anthropic had to obtain compute at higher rates. The company has been paying SpaceX $1.25 billion a month for compute and has multibillion-dollar agreements with Nscale, Akamai and Volta. These providers are described as neoclouds: smaller firms offering more flexible compute deals at higher rates than hyperscalers. Anthropic attributes the worsening Q3 margins partly to such agreements and says compute and infrastructure expenses are expected to rise in absolute dollars and remain its largest operating expense for the foreseeable future.

Anthropic says it is working to lower costs by building its own compute capacity through a project called “Anthropic Direct.” The article says that effort will not keep pace with demand, leaving neocloud providers as the company’s best option for now. It also says revenue is growing at nearly 50% a quarter, while warning that a slowdown in data center construction—if bond markets become skittish or local opposition intensifies—could make compute costs more difficult to manage. The article concludes that Anthropic and other AI labs remain exposed to compute prices.

Anthropic’s updated S-1 filing, released Monday, November 2, adds financial results through September 30 and shows compute costs consuming a larger share of revenue. Revenue reached $17 billion, up from $11.5 billion in the previous quarter, while the company’s operating loss also grew, largely because of rising compute expenses. The earlier filing covered results only through June 30.

Compute accounted for 58% of revenue in the quarter, compared with 48% in the prior quarter. Revenue per dollar spent on compute had risen steadily since the start of 2025, peaked at just over 2x in the latest quarter, then fell to 1.72x. Anthropic’s compute bill reached $10 billion for the quarter, including $5.0 billion under short-term commitments that cost significantly more than comparable compute secured through multi-year agreements.

The filing says demand grew so quickly that Anthropic had to obtain compute at higher rates. The company has been paying SpaceX $1.25 billion a month for compute and has multibillion-dollar agreements with Nscale, Akamai and Volta. These providers are described as neoclouds: smaller firms offering more flexible compute deals at higher rates than hyperscalers. Anthropic attributes the worsening Q3 margins partly to such agreements and says compute and infrastructure expenses are expected to rise in absolute dollars and remain its largest operating expense for the foreseeable future.

Anthropic says it is working to lower costs by building its own compute capacity through a project called “Anthropic Direct.” The article says that effort will not keep pace with demand, leaving neocloud providers as the company’s best option for now. It also says revenue is growing at nearly 50% a quarter, while warning that a slowdown in data center construction—if bond markets become skittish or local opposition intensifies—could make compute costs more difficult to manage. The article concludes that Anthropic and other AI labs remain exposed to compute prices.