Oracle sends force majeure notice on its Project Jupiter AI data center in New Mexico
The notice to developer Blue Owl could let Oracle defer payments if the 2.45-gigawatt Stargate campus misses its 2028 target amid gas pipeline and permit delays.
By Tech CEO Daily Staff, Newsroom
· 3 min read
The news
Oracle has sent a force majeure notice to Blue Owl Capital, the owner of STACK Infrastructure, which is developing the Project Jupiter data center campus in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, according to reports by TechCrunch and Searchlight New Mexico on September 24–25.
A force majeure notice asserts that events outside a party’s control may prevent it from meeting contract obligations. In this case, the notice could let Oracle, the campus’s main tenant, delay payments if the facility is not online in 2028 as planned. The campus, part of the Stargate AI infrastructure effort involving Oracle and OpenAI, is designed for 2.45 gigawatts of capacity.
The project has hit energy-related setbacks. TechCrunch reported that an Energy Transfer gas pipeline meant to feed the site has slipped nearly six months, to February 1, 2027, after regulators repeatedly denied permits, and that an air-quality permit for the Bloom Energy fuel cells meant to power the campus is still pending, with a state decision deadline of November 23.
Oracle said the project remains on schedule and that such notices are routine in developments of this size and do not by themselves signal a delay. STACK said the notice does not change the financial commitments to the project. Searchlight New Mexico reported that Oracle’s stock fell 3.47% on the day the news broke.
The numbers
- Designed campus capacity
- 2.45 GW
- Target online date
- 2028
- Delayed pipeline in-service date
- Feb. 1, 2027
- Oracle stock move on the news
- −3.47% (per Searchlight New Mexico)
Why CEOs should care
For customers counting on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure capacity — including AI labs and enterprises that signed large compute contracts — this is a reminder that announced gigawatts are not delivered gigawatts. Whatever Oracle intends, a force majeure notice is a legal hedge against delay. Buyers of future AI capacity should ask vendors which specific sites back their commitments and what happens contractually if those sites slip.
The underlying constraint is energy. Jupiter depends on a gas pipeline and on-site fuel cells, both tied up in permitting. Leaders planning AI workloads over the next few years should treat power availability as the gating factor for capacity pricing and timelines, not just chip supply.
The bigger picture
Oracle has become one of the most aggressive builders of AI data center capacity, much of it financed through partners and debt. Signs of stress at flagship sites draw scrutiny because so much of its growth outlook rests on bringing that capacity online on time.
What's next
The New Mexico air-quality permit decision due by November 23 is the next milestone to watch.
Sources
- ReportOracle sends force majeure notice on its New Mexico Stargate data center— TechCrunch
- ReportOracle sends ‘force majeure’ notice to Project Jupiter developers to protect itself from liability— Searchlight New Mexico
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