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Oracle's Data Center Force Majeure Scare

Oracle's stock tumbled after Bloomberg reported a force majeure notice on its New Mexico data center project. The company responded that such notices are routine in large-scale projects and will not affect delivery.

2026-09-24 ~ 2026-09-25 · 2 episodes · 12 posts

Episode 1 · Oracle Issues Force Majeure Notice on New Mexico Data Center, Shares Fall ~5% (2026-09-24, 10 posts)

On September 24, Bloomberg first reported that Oracle had issued a force majeure notice on a hyperscale data center under construction in New Mexico, picked up by ZeroHedge and the Financial Times; $ORCL fell about 5%. Oracle says such notices are routine in projects of this scale and do not imply delays or changed delivery expectations, but the market read it as execution risk surfacing in the AI buildout boom.

Confirmed

  • Oracle issued the force majeure notice on the New Mexico project (Bloomberg, ZeroHedge, Financial Times)
  • Per poster ivanbezdomny citing the FT, Oracle sent the notice to developer Blue Owl over a 1,400-acre campus (Project Jupiter, part of the Stargate buildout with OpenAI), a project described at $165 billion, because it could not proceed on schedule
  • Poster emmanuelvivier relayed that the project will be delayed but Oracle has not exited it
  • $ORCL fell about 5% on the news
  • Oracle's official account responded that force majeure notices are common in developments of this scale, typically preserve contractual rights among partners, and do not in themselves represent delays or changed delivery expectations

Unconfirmed

  • X user ns123abc claimed the site is OpenAI's Stargate data center; reposts further linked it to OpenAI's $400B Stargate deal, a 17-mile gas pipeline for Bloom Energy fuel cells, and an $18B loan under stress—none officially confirmed, and ns123abc himself noted the claim was unverified
  • Whether the clause leads to suspension, termination or mere delay remains unknown; ZeroHedge's framing of endangering overall US AI deployment was contradicted by Oracle's response

Why it matters

  • The data center is believed tied to major AI compute contracts; a genuine force majeure event could disrupt compute supply and project financing
  • The episode is seen as a signal of rising infrastructure costs and execution risk in the AI capacity race, with some observers suggesting Oracle may be using the clause to escape rapidly rising costs
  • It stirred strong market sentiment, with users tagging Sam Altman and mocking Larry Ellison as "Liferaft Larry"

Episode 2 · Oracle Says Data Center Force Majeure Notice Doesn't Change Delivery Timeline (2026-09-25, 2 posts)

Oracle clarified that its data center force majeure notice is common in large-scale projects and is meant to preserve contractual rights, not to signal delays. The company said delivery expectations and rent payments remain unchanged.