Oracle Slides after Report Says Blue Owl Walked from $10B OpenAI Data Center — Oracle Says Project’s Still on Track

With input from CNBC, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters.

Oracle shares fell about 5% Wednesday after a report suggested Blue Owl Capital won’t help finance a $10 billion data center in Michigan that’s tied to OpenAI — though Oracle later pushed back, saying the project is still moving ahead.

The Financial Times reported that Blue Owl had been in talks with Oracle to back a 1-gigawatt facility in Saline Township, Michigan, but the discussions stalled. The report cited worries about Oracle’s growing debt load and the massive price tag of its AI buildout — concerns that have been creeping into markets as hyperscalers and cloud giants race to lock down more data center capacity.

A person familiar with Blue Owl’s thinking said the firm looked at the deal but pulled out over unfavorable debt terms and repayment structure, and also flagged concerns that local politics could slow construction. The same person said Blue Owl is still involved with two other Oracle data center sites.

Oracle, however, said the Michigan project hasn’t slipped — Blue Owl just isn’t in the equity picture anymore.

“Our development partner, Related Digital, selected the best equity partner from a competitive group of options, which in this instance was not Blue Owl,” Oracle spokesperson Michael Egbert said.

He added that negotiations are “moving forward on schedule,” but Oracle didn’t name the new equity partner.

The FT also reported Blackstone has discussed potentially stepping in, though nothing has been signed.

The backdrop here is simple: investors are getting jumpy about how all this AI infrastructure is being paid for — especially when more projects lean on private equity and long-term leases instead of companies footing the bill directly.

Oracle’s own filings show just how big the commitments have gotten. As of Nov. 30, the company had $248 billion in lease and cloud capacity commitments stretching 15 to 19 years into the future — up nearly 148% from August. Oracle also raised $18 billion in new debt in September, and by the end of November it reported owing more than $124 billion, including operating lease liabilities.

Meanwhile, Oracle’s stock has been under heavy pressure. Shares are down about 50% from the September high of $345.72, and Wednesday’s drop added fresh fuel to the debate over whether the AI data center gold rush is getting ahead of itself — and how much leverage is too much.