# Akamai/Linode (Underperforming) — ClusterMAX GPU Cloud Review

> Akamai/Linode earns a ClusterMAX 2.0 Underperforming rating from SemiAnalysis. Akamai is a CDN giant that made a $900M acquisition of Linode in March 2022 to build a cloud from a foundation of datacenters, networking, and free cash flow. The scene was set for ChatGPT to launch later that year.…

- **Provider**: Akamai/Linode
- **ClusterMAX Tier**: Underperforming
- **Tier definition**: Can rise to Bronze or Silver quickly if critical issues are fixed (security attestation, modern GPUs, etc.).
- **Authors**: Jordan Nanos, Daniel Nishball, Dylan Patel (SemiAnalysis)
- **Published**: 2025-11-06 (Nov 06, 2025)
- **Last updated**: 2025-11-06 (Nov 06, 2025)
- **Source**: ClusterMAX 2.0
- **Canonical URL**: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/akamailinode
- **Source article**: https://newsletter.semianalysis.com/p/clustermax-20-the-industry-standard
- **Topics**: Akamai/Linode review, Akamai/Linode GPU cloud, Akamai/Linode ClusterMAX rating, Akamai/Linode Underperforming, Underperforming tier GPU cloud, GPU cloud review, neocloud review, Kubernetes, Slurm, managed Slurm, ClusterMAX 2.0, SemiAnalysis

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Akamai is a CDN giant that made a $900M acquisition of Linode in March 2022 to build a cloud from a foundation of datacenters, networking, and free cash flow. The scene was set for ChatGPT to launch later that year. Unfortunately, Akamai’s entry into the GPU cloud market has been a case study in missed opportunities. Akamai has completely ignored all high end GPUs and instead focuses on the RTX 6000 Blackwell.

Unsurprisingly, the platform has no managed Slurm cluster, and its Kubernetes engine is not optimized for GPU servers.

Akamai’s strategy seems focused on single-node, small-scale inference or developer VMs, which is a crowded, low-margin market. For a company with their resources, this lack of ambition is a significant disappointment to us.

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Other Underperforming tier providers:
- IREN/Iris Energy: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/irenirisenergy
- Hydra Host: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/hydrahost
- FarmGPU: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/farmgpu
- Whitefiber: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/whitefiber
- DeepInfra: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/deepinfra
- Dstack Sky: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/dstacksky
- PaleBlueDot: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/palebluedot
- Hyperbolic: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/hyperbolic
- Aethir: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/aethir
- Akash Network: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/akashnetwork
- Salad Cloud: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/saladcloud
- Clore: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/clore
- Mithril/ML Foundry: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/mithrilmlfoundry
- GPU.net: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/gpunet
- Massed Compute: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/massedcompute
- Exabits: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/exabits
- Sesterce: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/sesterce
- E2E Networks: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/e2enetworks
- OVHcloud: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/ovhcloud
- Dihuni: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/dihuni
- HETZNER: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview/hetzner

Full ClusterMAX 2.0 + 2.1 index: https://www.clustermax.ai/cloudreview
Full LLM dump of all reviews: https://www.clustermax.ai/llms-full.txt