Key Takeaway:
Oracle moved to protect itself against potential delays at Jupiter, a major New Mexico data center campus being developed by Blue Owl’s STACK Infrastructure for OpenAI.
The move has unsettled the trillion-dollar market financing AI infrastructure, as lenders and investors become more cautious about the sector’s rapid expansion.
Blue Owl said the force majeure notice did not change the parties’ commitment to the project, but the development is already influencing discussions around other data center financings.
The uncertainty is affecting plans such as SB Energy’s Ohio data center campus for OpenAI. The company also delayed its IPO this week.
Rising US interest rates and projected AI spending of roughly $1 trillion by the six largest US technology companies in 2027 are prompting tougher questions about deal economics, risk allocation, and the market’s capacity to absorb new debt.
A land dispute in New Mexico could hurt the financial plans behind the AI boom. Oracle may postpone payments for an OpenAI data center funded by Blue Owl and several banks. If other big tech companies also pull back, expectations for massive AI profits may be too high.
OpenAI and Anthropic need huge amounts of money to build the data centers required to run their AI systems. They depend on companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Oracle to support these projects and help them obtain affordable loans.
Because the data center requires a great deal of electricity, delays are possible. Oracle’s decision to limit its financial responsibility has made lenders more cautious. If Oracle withdraws its support, loan costs could increase, forcing OpenAI and Anthropic to spend more and potentially making the project too expensive to finish.
Rising Borrowing Costs Threaten the Financing of AI’s Data Center Boom
Investors are watching the Oracle–Blue Owl dispute to understand who will pay for unexpected delays.
The data center may be completed a year late because connecting it to enough electricity has taken longer than expected. Oracle used a contract clause allowing it to delay its responsibilities. Blue Owl has invested around $3 billion, but it will earn most of its profits only after the facility is completed.
Experts say AI data center contracts are changing quickly as projects face delays and local opposition. In the second quarter of 2026, 45 projects worth $68 billion faced protests, after 75 projects worth $130 billion were disrupted in the first quarter.
Blue Owl also recently struggled to secure financing for another $4 billion data center project in Pennsylvania.