Amazon’s Anthropic Loop: $18B In, $110B Committed to AWS

Amazon has put $18.0 billion into Anthropic, and Anthropic has committed to spend at least $110.0 billion with Amazon between May 2026 and April 2036, according to Anthropic’s Form S-1 filed with the SEC on 26 October 2026 and Amazon’s quarterly report for the period ended 30 June 2026. The $18.0 billion is our sum of two figures in Amazon’s report: $8.0 billion of Anthropic convertible notes bought from the third quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2025, and $10.0 billion of Anthropic nonvoting preferred stock bought in the second quarter of 2026.

On the same holding, Amazon recorded upward adjustments of approximately $62.8 billion in the first half of 2026, its report says. By our arithmetic, that is about 52% of Amazon’s $120.7 billion of income before income taxes for the half.

The Legs of the Loop

Each leg below is filed by one of the two companies. The S-1 commits Anthropic to the spend “regardless of actual usage”: if its actual spend falls short, it must pay Amazon the difference as a true-up, and the commitment is non-cancelable except in the event of Amazon’s uncured material breach.

Sources: Anthropic, PBC Form S-1 filed 26 Oct 2026; Amazon.com, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 Jun 2026. The $18.0B total is our arithmetic. Amazon describes the Anthropic expansion as more than $100.0B over 10.0 years; the S-1 gives at least $110.0B.

Funding That Arrives With the Compute

The newest money is linked to the cloud contract itself. Amazon’s report says that “as we reach certain delivery milestones of compute capacity under the amended commercial arrangement, amounts under this facility are made available for Anthropic to draw upon at its discretion”.

The S-1 gives the same mechanism from Anthropic’s side: amounts “will become available to us in $5.0 billion increments following the achievement of the relevant compute capacity milestones pursuant to certain commercial agreements between us and Amazon”. It also says the Amazon notes may be settled in cash at maturity or, at Amazon’s election, “by set-off against amounts Amazon owes the Company under certain commercial agreements with Amazon”.

What the Mark-Ups Did to Amazon’s Earnings

Amazon reported operating income of $27.5 billion and other income of $53.4 billion for the second quarter of 2026, for net income of $62.6 billion. The $50.5 billion second-quarter upward adjustment on its Anthropic preferred stock was about three times the $16.6 billion operating income of AWS in that quarter, by our arithmetic.

The carrying value of Amazon’s Anthropic preferred stock rose from approximately $14.8 billion at 31 December 2025 to approximately $92.5 billion at 30 June 2026. Amazon’s first-half tax provision included $15.9 billion of net discrete tax expense that it attributes primarily to the upward adjustments to its investments in Anthropic. For 2025, Amazon’s annual report records $5.6 billion of reclassified gains and $7.7 billion of upward adjustments, primarily from Anthropic.

Source: Amazon.com, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 Jun 2026 (unaudited), rounded. The upward adjustments are recorded in other income (expense), net.

The Notes on Anthropic’s Books

Our loss piece showed the other side: the notes Anthropic still owes Amazon, $6.2 billion of principal, are carried at $108.6 billion on Anthropic’s balance sheet, and the $72.4 billion change in the fair value of convertible notes, derivative liabilities and SAFEs made up most of Anthropic’s $80.7 billion first-half net loss. As we read it, the two sides are not mirror images: Amazon carries its remaining Anthropic notes as available-for-sale securities, with unrealized gains in other comprehensive income, while the upward adjustments in its income statement are on the preferred stock.

Connecting the Coverage

Our SpaceXAI piece covered Anthropic’s other large compute contract, up to $120.5 billion into 2029. Our leases piece tracked commitments that big technology companies have signed but not yet put on their balance sheets. Our fundraising piece covered the $65.2 billion Series H, where Amazon put in $5.0 billion. The S-1 itself notes that Amazon, Google and Microsoft “have made significant equity investments in our company” and have “strategic interests that may not be fully aligned with our own”.

The Structural Read

As we read it, the Amazon 2026 facility makes the funding conditional on the cloud contract: money becomes available as Amazon delivers compute capacity milestones, by both companies’ descriptions.

As we read it, the accounting differs by security: the notes Anthropic still owes Amazon are a $108.6 billion liability at Anthropic, while Amazon books its income-statement gains on the preferred stock and holds the notes through other comprehensive income.

As we read it, the scale matters for Amazon’s reported earnings: by our arithmetic, the first-half upward adjustments were about 52% of its pre-tax income, while the second-quarter adjustment was about three times AWS operating income.

Three Implications

FOR INVESTORS IN AMAZON Amazon’s 10-Q records about $62.8 billion of first-half upward adjustments on its Anthropic preferred stock in other income, separate from AWS operating income of $30.8 billion.

FOR INVESTORS IN ANTHROPIC The S-1 commits Anthropic to at least $110.0 billion with Amazon regardless of actual usage, with a true-up if spend falls short.

FOR READERS OF BOTH FILINGS Neither filing breaks out Anthropic’s share of Amazon’s roughly $496 billion of unrecognised commitments, or Anthropic’s payments to Amazon in the half.

The Business Engineer Lens

This story maps onto the Business Engineer framework The AI Capex Map & The State of AI Hyperscalers.

The framework argues that “The $1T capex cycle is being underwritten by a $1T concentrated demand commitment from two counterparties whose combined free cash flow is deeply negative.” It names OpenAI and Anthropic as those two counterparties.

As we read it, Amazon’s and Anthropic’s filings add a second link to that picture: the same counterparty is also an investment whose upward adjustments ran through Amazon’s income statement. The framework was published in May 2026 and does not discuss these filings.

What Is Not Established

Neither filing says how much of Amazon’s roughly $496 billion of unrecognised commitments comes from Anthropic, or how much Anthropic paid Amazon in the first half of 2026: the S-1 reports $8.9 billion of total compute and infrastructure expense across all providers. The S-1 says approximately 48% of first-half revenue came through cloud marketplaces, with the clouds acting as collection agents, but does not split that share by cloud in the passages we read.

Amazon’s upward adjustments are Level 3 valuation marks, not cash received. Amazon reports its third-quarter results on 29 October, according to the Nasdaq earnings calendar. Both companies disclose these arrangements in their filings.

The Bottom Line

Amazon’s filings show $18.0 billion invested in Anthropic and about $62.8 billion of upward adjustments on that stake in the first half of 2026, while Anthropic’s S-1 commits it to at least $110.0 billion of spending with Amazon through April 2036, with $15.0 billion of further Amazon funding released as compute capacity milestones are met.