A row over an OpenAI data center in New Mexico has resulted in Oracle declaring 'force majeure', with the hardware firm seeking to protect its rights in the event that the project misses its planned start-up date.
The force majeure notice, sent to Stack Infrastructure’s owner, Blue Owl Capital, relates to the Project Jupiter campus, a 2.45-gigawatt campus that is central to the Stargate AI infrastructure build-out. But it has faced permit denials and other setbacks that threaten its 2028 online target.
"Project Jupiter remains on our planned schedule," a spokesperson for Oracle said, in comments cited by Reuters.
It's reported that Oracle - the data center's would-be anchor tenant - is not trying to walk away, yet it is claimed that the firm wants contractual wiggle room should the build be derailed.
To date, some 20 banks provided an $18 billion construction loan for the campus, and, according to the media reports, that debt is trading at "stressed" levels, below 90 cents on the dollar.
It comes as the zeitgeist has evidently moved from worrying about the bubble to outright doomerism, anti-datacenter protests, and a degree of broader scepticism over the economics and financial sustainability of AI's sharp roll-out and up-ramp.
Previously, OpenAI signed a $400 billion deal with Oracle and SoftBank to support five US data centers, including the New Mexico site.
A natural-gas pipeline meant to supply Project Jupiter was delayed nearly six months to 1 February 2027 after repeated permit denials from the New Mexico State Land Office, and the campus is designed to run on Bloom Energy fuel cells.
Oracle is said to have stepped up outreach in New Mexico to counter local opposition, and whether the site can still come online in 2028 is now the project’s immediate milestone.
In New York, on Wall Street, shares in Oracle fell $6.33 dollars or 4.4% to $138.28.
