Oracle and OpenAI scrap Texas AI data center expansion as financing talks collapse
13 Sources
[1]
Oracle hits back at Stargate data center cancellation reports -- claims 4.5GW Oracle-OpenAI agreement still on track
Oracle says its Abilene AI campus is progressing on schedule. Oracle has pushed back against recent media coverage of its Stargate AI data center project in Abilene, Texas, saying reports about problems at the site are "false and incorrect" while confirming the broader buildout tied to OpenAI
[2]
Oracle and OpenAI End Plans to Expand Flagship Data Center
Oracle Corp. and OpenAI have scrapped plans to expand a flagship artificial intelligence data center in Texas after negotiations dragged over financing and OpenAI's changing needs. The collapsed talks created an opening for Meta Platforms Inc. to step in and consider leasing the planned expansion
[3]
Oracle and OpenAI drop Texas data center expansion plan, Bloomberg News reports
March 6 (Reuters) - Oracle (ORCL.N), opens new tab and OpenAI have abandoned plans to expand a flagship artificial intelligence data center in Texas, part of the Stargate project, after negotiations dragged over financing and OpenAI's changing needs, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The
[4]
AI chipmaker Cerebras namedropped by Oracle, alongside Nvidia and AMD
Cerebras Systems CEO Andrew Feldman attends The Grove by Village Global at Carneros Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif., on Dec. 12, 2025. As AI chipmaker Cerebras angles for an eventual IPO, the company appears to have landed a significant cloud-computing customer: Oracle. On a conference call with
[5]
OpenAI's massive Stargate data center canceled as firm can't reach terms with Oracle, operator struggles with reliability issues -- Meta said to be interested in snatching excess capacity
Oracle and OpenAI have cancelled plans to expand their flagship AI data center campus in Abilene, Texas, after lengthy negotiations broke down over financing arrangements and OpenAI's changing capacity projections, reports Bloomberg. The Abilene campus is part of the Stargate project announced at
[6]
OpenAI, Oracle abandon 2 GW AI data center expansion in Texas
OpenAI and Oracle have stepped back from plans to expand a major artificial intelligence data center in Texas, according to a report by Bloomberg. The decision follows extended negotiations over financing and shifting infrastructure needs for AI development. The project involves the Abilene,
[7]
Oracle earnings will show whether its expensive AI bet is starting to pay off
Following the announcement of a $50 billion financing plan at the beginning of February that included debt and equity, investors have been eager to understand the pace of dilution for current stockholders. "The cadence matters," said Gil Luria, equity analyst at DA Davidson, told CNBC. Of all the
[8]
Oracle and OpenAI drop plans for mega Stargate AI US data center
* Stargate's Texas data center expansion to 2GW could be axed, capping it at 1.2GW * The Abilene campus has already faced a number of challenges * OpenAI may want to focus on accommodating newer chips Oracle and OpenAI have reportedly (via Bloomberg) scrapped plans to expand the Abilene,
[9]
Oracle is building yesterday's data centers with tomorrow's debt
Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk appears on a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, on Sept. 23, 2025. Artificial intelligence chips are getting upgraded more quickly than data centers can be built, a market reality that exposes a key risk to the AI trade and Oracle's debt-fueled
[10]
Oracle and OpenAI drop Texas data centre expansion plan: Bloomberg
In September, the companies had announced plans for an additional potential expansion of 600 megawatts near the flagship Stargate site in Abilene, Texas. The collapsed talks between Oracle and OpenAI created an opening for Meta Platforms to step in and consider leasing the planned expansion site
[11]
Oracle denies reports of Abilene data center troubles By Investing.com
Investing.com -- Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) pushed back against recent media reports about its flagship Abilene, Texas AI data center, stating that the facility remains on track and that the company has secured the full 4.5 gigawatts of capacity committed to OpenAI. Shares of Oracle last traded
[12]
Oracle stock falls on report of scrapped Texas data center plans By Investing.com
Investing.com -- Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares fell 1% in Friday's final trading hour after Bloomberg reported the company and OpenAI ended plans to expand their Texas data center site. The stock had been trading up as much as 3% earlier in the session before the news emerged. After
[13]
Oracle and OpenAI drop Texas data center expansion plan, Bloomberg News reports
March 6 (Reuters) - Oracle and OpenAI have abandoned plans to expand a flagship artificial intelligence data center in Texas after negotiations dragged over financing and OpenAI's changing needs, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The plan is part of the
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Oracle and OpenAI have abandoned plans to expand their flagship AI data center in Abilene, Texas, after negotiations over financing and capacity forecasting broke down. While the expansion is off, Oracle confirms its broader 4.5-gigawatt agreement with OpenAI remains intact, with projects progressing at other U.S. locations including Detroit.
Oracle Pushes Back Against Cancellation Reports
Oracle has issued a sharp rebuttal to media reports suggesting problems with its Stargate project, insisting that its AI data center partnership with OpenAI remains firmly on track
1
. The company stated it has completed leasing arrangements for an additional 4.5GW agreement to support its commitments to OpenAI, with two buildings at the Abilene campus already operational and the remainder progressing as planned1
. Oracle and developer Crusoe emphasized they are "operating in lockstep" to deliver one of the world's largest AI data centers, pushing back against what they called "false and incorrect" reporting1
.
Source: Interesting Engineering
Expansion Plans Collapse After Prolonged Negotiations
Despite Oracle's optimistic stance, both Bloomberg and Reuters reported that Oracle and OpenAI have scrapped plans to expand the flagship AI data center in Abilene, Texas
2
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. The data center expansion plan would have increased capacity from roughly 1.2 gigawatts to about 2.0 gigawatts, adding approximately 600 megawatts to the existing site2
. Financing negotiations dragged on through mid-2025 and were complicated by OpenAI's shifting demand forecasting before ultimately falling apart2
. The collapsed talks underscore the complexity of building out AI infrastructure that requires tens of billions of dollars and cooperation from multiple partners2
.
Source: TechRadar
Meta Platforms Eyes Vacant Capacity as Nvidia Facilitates
The breakdown created an unexpected opening for Meta Platforms to step in and consider leasing the planned expansion site from Crusoe
2
. Nvidia, the leading maker of AI chips, helped facilitate Meta's discussions with the developer and reportedly paid a $150 million deposit to Crusoe to ensure its AI accelerators would fill the expanded data center rather than competing hardware from AMD2
5
. Meta has been spending heavily on cloud infrastructure for AI workloads, with projected capital expenditures reaching as much as $135 billion in 2026 alone2
. The social networking giant is already working on several large data centers in Louisiana and Indiana, and last month struck a deal to deploy 6 gigawatts worth of gear from AMD2
.Reliability Issues Strain Oracle-Crusoe Relations
Beyond financing negotiations, relations between Oracle and Crusoe have been strained by reliability issues at the Abilene site
2
. Earlier this year, data center buildings went offline for days due to winter weather affecting liquid cooling machinery, disrupting AI workloads2
5
. Despite these challenges, both companies maintain their relationship remains strong and the Oracle-leased site is progressing quickly2
. The 1,000-acre campus, part of the highly publicized Stargate project announced at the White House with President Donald Trump, continues to be built with several parts already up and running2
.Related Stories
Broader Partnership Remains Intact With Alternative Sites
While the Abilene expansion has been shelved, the reported change relates specifically to one planned expansion rather than the main Stargate project itself
1
. Oracle agreed in July to develop 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity for OpenAI across multiple U.S. locations, and that deal remains on track1
2
. The companies have announced projects in other locations, including a site near Detroit owned by Related Digital1
2
. Sources suggest the extra 600 megawatts originally discussed for Abilene would instead be fulfilled at other data center campuses tied to the broader Stargate rollout1
. One gigawatt is comparable to the capacity from one nuclear reactor and can provide electricity to roughly 750,000 houses at any given point2
.Oracle Expands Chip Portfolio Beyond Nvidia
In a separate development highlighting Oracle's cloud infrastructure strategy, the company revealed it is incorporating chips from AI startup Cerebras alongside GPUs from Nvidia and AMD . Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk stated the company builds infrastructure that is "flexible, fungible, and can support the smallest workloads up to the largest," continually offering the latest in AI accelerators from emerging companies like Cerebras and Positron . This diversification matters as intense computing power needed to train and deploy AI models has led to a boom in data center projects of unprecedented scale
2
. For Cerebras, which filed for an IPO in 2024 before withdrawing and raising $1.1 billion at an $8.1 billion valuation, landing Oracle as a customer could address investor concerns about its previous reliance on a single Middle Eastern client . The startup also received a $10 billion commitment from OpenAI in January and collaborated on a research preview of Codex-Spark for ChatGPT Pro customers .
Source: Tom's Hardware
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