Oracle Invokes Force Majeure to Avoid Data Center Contracts, Stock Drops Nearly 5% Pre-Market
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Oracle sent a force-majeure notice to its 2.45 GW data-center developer, seeking to defer payments amid construction delays; pre-market shares fell nearly 5%, while the $18 billion syndicated loan behind the project is already trading below 90 cents on the dollar.
What is Oracle actually trying to do?
Oracle sent a force-majeure notice — a contract clause that excuses performance when extraordinary events intervene — to Stack Infrastructure, a unit of Blue Owl Capital.
The goal is not to exit the lease. Oracle wants a contractual basis to defer payments if Project Jupiter cannot go live by 2028 as planned.
This means → Oracle is not walking away; it is laying legal groundwork to avoid penalties if the timeline slips.
Oracle said the project remains on track. Blue Owl declined to comment. Reuters said it could not independently verify the Bloomberg report.
Why is the project delayed?
Project Jupiter is the centerpiece of the Stargate AI-infrastructure initiative, backed by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank. Designed capacity: 2.45 GW — enough to power roughly 1.8 million homes.
The bottleneck: a natural-gas pipeline operated by Energy Transfer has been repeatedly rejected by the New Mexico State Land Office, pushing its start date from this month to February 1, 2027 — a delay of nearly six months.
In plain terms = the data center runs on natural-gas fuel cells. No pipeline approval means no power, and the 2028 launch target is in jeopardy.
What is happening to the $18 billion loan?
A syndicate of roughly 20 banks extended $18 billion in financing — one of the largest single deals in the AI-infrastructure lending boom.
That debt is now trading below 90 cents on the dollar in the secondary market, a distressed-level discount.
This means → buyers see more risk than the face value implies. The deeper the discount, the lower the market's confidence the project will deliver on time.
Why does a force-majeure notice spook the market?
Law firm Quinn Emanuel noted in a June 2025 client briefing that force-majeure clauses in AI data-center deals are "no longer boilerplate at the back of the contract" but a "core litigation and risk-allocation tool."
A single delay can trigger a chain reaction across construction, offtake, power, insurance and financing documents.
This reflects a deeper worry: the notice itself is not the threat — its potential to set off a domino effect is. If Oracle can invoke relief, the rights and obligations of the entire bank syndicate and partner network may have to be reopened.
What comes next?
Near-term signal: a nearly 5% pre-market drop shows the market read this notice as rising project risk, not routine contract housekeeping.
Key milestone: whether Project Jupiter goes live in 2028 will test both Oracle's ability to deliver and the soundness of the $18 billion financing structure.
In plain terms = this project is the litmus test for whether Stargate can actually be built. If Oracle itself is hedging against delay, the broader optimism around AI infrastructure deserves a discount too.
市场有风险，内容仅供研究参考，不构成投资建议。