Closing Bell: Akamai-Anthropic Contract, Microsoft Jumps, Meta's New AI Agent

Today's biggest winners and losers in the stock market. 

On this episode of Stock Movers:

Listen for comprehensive cross-platform coverage of the US market close as heard on Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, and YouTube with Romaine Bostick, Isabelle Lee, Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec. 

- Anthropic has signed an $11.6 billion, seven-year contract with Akamai Technologies (AKAM) for computing power, adding to the AI developer’s growing list of data center deals. Akamai will supply Anthropic access to central processing units, or CPUs, and has issued a warrant that gives Anthropic the right to buy Series B shares that converts into common stock. The contract represents the largest deal in Akamai’s history, with the company estimating that its capital spending tied to the agreement will total about $5.5 billion, and expects revenue from the Anthropic business to total about $150 million to $300 million next year.

- Microsoft (MSFT) shares jump as much as 3.9%, the most intraday since early August, after the technology giant merged the consumer and workplace versions of its Copilot artificial intelligence assistant. The company is merging the consumer and workplace versions of its Copilot AI assistant into one product aimed at corporate customers. The updated software gives users the ability to edit Word or Excel documents within a Copilot app or browser tab and includes a coding assistant to enable regular users to put together dashboards or automate tasks. Microsoft's retreat from the personal chatbot market coincides with the arrival of Meta's Muse, a personal assistant that can act on users' behalf and has raced to the top of the app download charts.

- Meta (META) saw it shares decline despite a week that saw its shares rally on enthusiasm over its new AI initiatives. It unveiled a palm-sized, dedicated gadget for using Muse, the company’s popular new artificial intelligence assistant, pushing deeper into the AI devices market with a surprise announcement.

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