Anthropic and Akamai’s $1.16B Deal: AI Infrastructure Race Enters New Phase
On September 24, cloud computing and content delivery network provider Akamai announced a 7-year, $1.16 billion contract with Anthropic (approximately RMB 7.79 billion). The agreement obligates Akamai to provide distributed AI infrastructure and software to meet Anthropic’s growing CPU workload demands. As part of the deal, Akamai will spend $550 million in additional capital expenditures and issue warrants allowing Anthropic to acquire up to 5% of its outstanding common stock. The contract can be expanded by up to $900 million.
This transaction sets a new record for Anthropic’s infrastructure partnerships, highlighting that CPU computing costs are becoming a core expense for large language model companies. A notable contrast: the $1.16 billion service commitment corresponds to only $550 million in Akamai’s capital spend—meaning Akamai locks in $2.11 in service revenue for every $1 in capital invested, demonstrating the effectiveness of its asset-light model.
Subscription Tier Expansion: ProMax Sparks Pricing War Concerns
Developer tool observer Tibor Blaho discovered the “PROMAX” field in ChatGPT’s web source code on September 25, suggesting OpenAI is preparing a higher-tier subscription. If confirmed, the monthly fee would reach $500-600 (approximately $3,359-4,030), potentially making it the most expensive personal AI subscription on the market.
Comparing existing subscription tiers:
| Current Tier | Monthly Cost (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | Weekly quota limits |
| Plus | 20 | Standard paid tier |
| Pro | Suspended | Paused due to system pressure |
| ProMax (estimated) | 500-600 | Unconfirmed |
OpenAI has suspended its $200 Pro subscription to relieve system pressure. If ProMax launches, it may target enterprise-grade high-concurrency requests or dedicated model inference capabilities—but the company has not confirmed any details, leaving pricing and features uncertain.
DeepSeek Harness Desktop App: GUI Maturity Exceeds Expectations
DeepSeek Harness launched without official announcement, but its desktop application has spread on social media. The UI is already a mature GUI application: users must log in, configure API keys, set a local workspace, then select working directions like office/research or coding, after which the system recommends workflows.
Six official plugins are pre-built: Agent team, voice input, terminal, Agent loop, Subagent, and web search. The “Agent team” plugin supports multi-Agent collaboration and shared task boards; “voice input” can locally call SenseVoice for speech-to-text but requires extra dependencies.
Work modes include:
- Standard mode: General-purpose tasks with low learning curve
- PTC mode: Model writes programs first, then batch-called for repetitive tasks
- Minimalist mode: Agent executes tasks via terminal only, resembling traditional coding agents
- Creative mode: Supports plugin development and prompt composition, aligning with the “Everything is a Plugin” architecture
Microsoft Copilot Super App Launches: Three Workflows Consolidated
On the evening of September 25, Microsoft launched its new Copilot super app, consolidating chat, coding, and agent functions into a single interface,定位 as “AI for work.” The新版 divides into three tabs: Home merges Copilot Chat and Cowork, planning a personalized Today dashboard; Code enables users to create apps, dashboards, or automation flows using GitHub Copilot tech in a sandbox; Autopilot, formerly Scout, is now a cloud-native digital teammate that executes extended tasks offline.
All core features operate on usage-based billing, with Astra, Fable model calls and continuous-agent operations incurring additional charges. Enterprise users can control spending with the new FinOps for AI tool.
Limited-Time Free Quota Reset: Anthropic’s Temporary Welfare
Anthropic launched a limited-time free quota reset feature on September 26, allowing users to manually refresh weekly usage quotas and the 5-hour time limit. Each user may use it only once, and the feature is available until October 22. Note: reset quotas expire according to the original schedule, not extending to a full new week.
Final Thoughts
Record-breaking infrastructure deals confirm the AI infrastructure race is accelerating; subscription tier分化 reflects companies exploring new monetization models; desktop experience evolution signals AI applications are migrating from command line to graphical interfaces. All three point toward a competition shift—from model accuracy to productization and commercial maturity.