Oracle Triggers ‘Force Majeure’ Clause on $165B Project Jupiter Data Center
Technology titan Oracle Corporation has issued a formal “force majeure” notice to Stack Infrastructure, the developer of the colossal Project Jupiter. This $165 billion AI data center campus, situated in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, has caused a stir among investors and resulted in a more than 3% drop in Oracle shares on Thursday.
This notice, initially disclosed by Bloomberg, is not an attempt by Oracle to withdraw as the main tenant of the project. Rather, it serves as a provision allowing the company to postpone payments if the expansive 1,400-acre facility — a component of the wider Stargate program to construct computing infrastructure for OpenAI — fails to launch by its intended 2028 deadline.
The project has encountered a series of regulatory hurdles, most notably a rejected state energy permit for a proposed 2.45-gigawatt power plant required to power the campus. These issues have led the project’s substantial $18 billion in construction financing to trade at stressed levels — between 89 and 91 cents on the dollar — indicating increased investor apprehension.
Despite the market volatility, Oracle has maintained a consistent public position. “Project Jupiter remains on our planned schedule. We are fully committed to New Mexico and confident in our path forward,” an Oracle vice president stated in a press release. The company also highlighted that it hired over 900 workers in August alone, with more than 3,600 construction workers currently on site. Blue Owl Capital, the owner of Stack Infrastructure, affirmed that the force majeure notice does not alter the project’s financial obligations.
Source: CNBC – Oracle issues ‘force majeure’ notice for data center project — stock declines 3%