Oracle sent a force majeure notice to the developer of Project Jupiter, a huge data-centre campus in New Mexico linked to the Stargate effort with OpenAI and SoftBank. Bloomberg first reported it on September 24. The notice could let Oracle delay payments if the site misses its 2028 start, but Oracle says the project remains on schedule.
New to this? Read it in simple words
- Oracle is building a huge AI data centre in New Mexico for the Stargate project.
- It sent a legal notice that could let it delay payments if the site opens late.
- The site has had problems with its power supply and its permits.
- Oracle says the project is still on schedule.
- Force majeure
- A contract rule for events outside a company’s control, such as disasters or long delays.
- Data centre
- A building full of computers that run online services and AI.
- Permit
- Official permission needed to build or run something.
What the notice does
Oracle sent the notice to Blue Owl Capital, which owns Stack Infrastructure, the developer of Project Jupiter.
Force majeure is a contract term for events outside a company’s control. According to reports based on Bloomberg’s story, the notice could let Oracle put off payments if the campus does not open in 2028 as planned.
Reuters, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that the notice would stretch out a period of lower rent during construction. Oracle cannot end the lease, the source said.
Oracle says the campus remains on schedule. The notice covers a possible late start.
Power and permit problems
Project Jupiter is a 1,400-acre campus in Santa Teresa, in southern New Mexico. Reuters describes it as part of Stargate, the data-centre effort with OpenAI and SoftBank.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, the site is planned with a 2.45-gigawatt power plant. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that a gas pipeline meant to power it has not yet been approved by the New Mexico State Land Office.
The campus also faced legal fights over air-quality and water permits. On September 17, the New Mexico Supreme Court allowed those permit proceedings to continue.
About $18 billion in loans are tied to the project. The Santa Fe New Mexican, citing the Financial Times, says those loans are being quoted at 89 to 91 cents on the dollar.
What the companies say
“Force-majeure notices are commonplace in developments of this scale,” said Oracle’s Michael Egbert. “They do not, by themselves, establish a project delay or change delivery expectations.”
Oracle says Project Jupiter “remains on our planned schedule”.
“Blue Owl, STACK Infrastructure and Oracle remain fully aligned on Project Jupiter,” said Stack spokesperson Nikki Wheeler. The notice “does not change the financial commitments to this multiyear project”, Wheeler added.
Oracle’s shares closed about 3.5% lower on Thursday, and Blue Owl’s fell 3.6%, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. OpenAI did not comment in the reports we read.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
- 1Primary source · September 24, 2026Oracle Cites ‘Force Majeure’ to Shield Itself on Controversial Data Center Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance
- 2Research · September 24, 2026Oracle triggers ‘force majeure’ on data centre project over power delays, source says Reuters via BNN Bloomberg
- 3Research · September 24, 2026Oracle invokes ‘force majeure’ on Project Jupiter, but says data center still on track Albuquerque Journal
- 4Research · September 24, 2026Oracle sends ‘force majeure’ notice to Project Jupiter developers to protect itself from liability Santa Fe New Mexican
Bloomberg broke the story, but we could not open its article, so we relied on Reuters, the Albuquerque Journal, and the Santa Fe New Mexican, which confirm the main facts. Quotes from Oracle and Stack come from those reports. Reports differ on the size of the Stargate deal, so we leave that figure out.