Tech major Oracle plans to raise between $45 billion and $50 billion this year through a mix of debt and equity sales to fund a rapid expansion of its cloud infrastructure, underscoring the vast capital required to support the next phase of artificial intelligence growth.
The company said the funds will be used to build additional capacity to meet contracted demand from some of its largest cloud customers, including AMD, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, TikTok, and Elon Musk’s xAI. The announcement comes at a time when investors are increasingly questioning whether the wave of AI-linked capital expenditure by technology companies will generate adequate returns.
Oracle’s shares have fallen by around 50% from their record high in September 2025, erasing roughly $460 billion in market value and intensifying scrutiny of its aggressive spending plans.
Building AI-focused data centres has already pushed Oracle’s free cash flow into negative territory, where it is expected to remain until at least 2030, according to Bloomberg. The company is committed to investing in advanced semiconductors and long-term leasing costs tied to new data centre capacity.
The financial strain is now spilling over into workforce and asset decisions. Oracle is reportedly planning job cuts of up to 30,000 employees to help fund its AI infrastructure push, according to a research note by investment bank TD Cowen. The same report said Oracle is also considering selling some non-core activities as US banks pull back from financing its data centre expansion.
“Both equity and debt investors have raised questions regarding Oracle’s ability to finance this buildout,” TD Cowen noted, as cited by CIO. Several US lenders have reportedly withdrawn from talks to fund further expansion of Oracle’s data centre footprint in recent weeks.
The funding pressures are also affecting customer relationships. Oracle had previously committed to building large-scale data centres for OpenAI, a programme TD Cowen estimated could involve spending of around $156 billion over time. With financing becoming harder to secure, the pace and scope of those projects are now under sharper focus.
If implemented, the planned layoffs could free up between $8 billion and $10 billion in cash flow, analysts estimate. Oracle has not yet commented publicly on the reported job cuts, but it would represent the largest reduction in headcount in the company’s recent history. In late 2025, Oracle cut around 10,000 jobs as part of a $1.6 billion restructuring effort.
The developments follow similar moves across the sector. Amazon recently announced plans to lay off around 16,000 employees as part of its own AI-led restructuring, highlighting how even the biggest technology companies are rebalancing costs amid heavy AI investment.
Beyond workforce reductions, Oracle is also reportedly weighing the sale of its healthcare software unit Cerner, which it acquired for $28.3 billion in 2022, as it looks to shore up its balance sheet. With capital markets turning more cautious and AI spending showing few signs of slowing, Oracle is scrambling to balance ambition with financial discipline.
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