Oracle sent a force majeure notice to Blue Owl, the developer of its 2.45-gigawatt Project Jupiter data center in New Mexico, seeking to delay payments if the facility fails to come online in 20281,2. Oracle shares fell 5% on Thursday; Blue Owl also saw its stock decline.
Bloomberg first reported the notice, citing sources familiar with the matter. CNBC confirmed that Oracle sent the notice to a unit of Blue Owl.
Project Jupiter has faced regulatory hurdles and local opposition. Oracle has $18 billion in debt tied to the data center. The project is part of the broader Stargate artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout associated with President Donald Trump.
Oracle co-CEO Clay Magouyrk told analysts on September 10 that Project Jupiter would not affect the company's previously stated fiscal 2027 revenue or earnings guidance.
"Project Jupiter remains on our planned schedule," Oracle said in a statement to CNBC. "We are fully committed to New Mexico and confident in our path forward".
Blue Owl said in a statement to CNBC: "This notice does not change the financial commitments to this multi-year project".
ANALYSIS The force majeure mechanism gives Oracle contractual cover to pause or restructure payments without formally abandoning the project, a move that preserves optionality while shifting near-term financial risk away from Oracle if construction or permitting timelines slip past 2028. A 2.45-gigawatt campus would rank among the largest single-site AI data center builds disclosed to date, and the scale of the debt load underscores the financial exposure Oracle carries on the project. The market reaction in both Oracle and Blue Owl shares suggests investors are pricing in meaningful execution risk despite both companies' public reassurances.