Oracle Weighs 30,000 Job Cuts

Oracle faces its largest workforce reduction ever, contemplating 20,000-30,000 layoffs to unlock $8-10 billion in cash flow amid crushing costs from AI data center expansions tied to OpenAI.

A $300 billion partnership with Sam Altman's OpenAI demands $156 billion in capital spending and 3 million GPUs. Oracle has already piled on $58 billion in debt—$38 billion for Texas/Wisconsin centers, $20 billion for New Mexico—pushing total debt past $100 billion. This covers just a fraction of needs, with stock plunging over 50% ($463 billion market cap lost) since September 2025.

U.S. banks are retreating from Oracle loans, stalling data center leases as private builders can't secure funding. Asian lenders may fill gaps, but U.S. delays threaten OpenAI capacity—prompting Altman to shift workloads to Microsoft and Amazon.

New customers must pay 40% upfront to co-fund infrastructure; "bring your own chip" options emerge. Oracle eyes selling Cerner, its $28.3 billion healthcare unit, prioritizing AI over legacy assets.

TD Cowen warns of a financing crisis, with OpenAI's pivot signaling delivery risks. Oracle stays silent on layoffs and debt woes, but cuts loom as survival hinges on scaling AI clouds profitably.