Oracle has issued a public clarification on its partnership with OpenAI after analyst reports linked the company’s aggressive investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure to the possibility of large-scale job cuts.
In a statement posted on its official X account, Oracle said a widely discussed Nvidia–OpenAI investment proposal had “zero impact” on its financial relationship with OpenAI and insisted it remained “highly confident” in OpenAI’s ability to raise capital and meet its commitments. The clarification followed mounting speculation that Oracle could slash as many as 30,000 jobs to help fund its AI expansion.
The statement came after a turbulent weekend for companies tied to OpenAI. The Wall Street Journal reported that a proposed $100 billion Nvidia investment in OpenAI had stalled and was never finalised. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang later confirmed that the arrangement discussed last year was non-binding and did not proceed.
Despite Oracle’s attempt to reassure investors, markets reacted negatively. The company’s shares fell 2.79% to $160.06 shortly after the statement was published, highlighting ongoing concern about the scale of Oracle’s financial exposure to the AI build-out.
Analysts have pointed to rising leverage as a key risk. Investment bank TD Cowen said Oracle is considering workforce reductions affecting 20,000 to 30,000 employees, a move that could release $8 billion to $10 billion in annual cash flow. TD Cowen estimates Oracle faces capital expenditure of around $156 billion to support long-term commitments linked to OpenAI, including large-scale data centre construction and advanced chip procurement.
Oracle’s debt burden has expanded rapidly. The company has added about $58 billion in debt in recent months, largely to finance new data centre campuses in the US, pushing total debt above $100 billion, according to analysts. Since peaking in September 2025, Oracle’s market capitalisation has fallen sharply, erasing hundreds of billions of dollars in value.
Pressure is also building across the wider AI ecosystem. Reuters reported that OpenAI has explored alternatives to Nvidia’s inference chips, holding talks with AMD, Cerebras and Groq, as it seeks more efficient and cost-effective computing options.
Oracle has not formally confirmed any layoff plans. However, analysts say the episode underlines the immense capital intensity of the AI boom and the growing tension between long-term infrastructure bets and near-term financial discipline.
As competition in AI infrastructure intensifies, investors are likely to remain focused on how Oracle balances spending, funding and workforce decisions in the months ahead.