Oracle Shares Slip Despite Confidence in OpenAI Funding Amid Nvidia Rift Reports
Oracle Corporation, the cloud computing giant, has publicly affirmed its strong confidence in OpenAI's ability to secure funding, even as reports of a rift between OpenAI and Nvidia continue to circulate. However, this reassurance failed to calm investor nerves, leading to a notable decline in Oracle's stock value. The company's shares closed down 2.79 percent at $160.06, reversing earlier gains that followed Oracle's announcement of plans to raise $50 billion for expanding its AI infrastructure.
Investor Anxiety Over Debt and OpenAI Exposure
In a post on X on Monday, February 2, Oracle stated, "The NVIDIA-OpenAI deal has zero impact on our financial relationship with OpenAI. We remain highly confident in OpenAI's ability to raise funds and meet its commitments." This message was intended to highlight Oracle's strategic independence, but it had the opposite effect. Investors, already wary of Oracle's substantial debt load, interpreted the statement as a negative signal. This concern is compounded by growing scrutiny of OpenAI's ambitious growth model, which involves trillion-dollar infrastructure commitments.
Oracle's recent move to raise up to $50 billion in 2026 through a mix of debt and equity financing aims to fund additional data center capacity for cloud customers. Initially, this plan boosted shares by 2 percent in early trading, as markets viewed it as a step toward managing the company's roughly $100 billion debt. However, the subsequent drop reflects deeper anxieties about Oracle's exposure to OpenAI, especially given the cloud provider's heavy borrowing to support AI infrastructure build-outs.
Background on Oracle-OpenAI Partnership and Nvidia Tensions
In September 2025, Oracle signed a significant deal with OpenAI, requiring the ChatGPT maker to purchase $300 billion worth of compute power over five years, according to a Wall Street Journal report. OpenAI has committed to approximately $1.4 trillion in spending on compute power and infrastructure, despite its annualized revenue being just over $20 billion in 2025. This reliance on demand-driven infrastructure has raised red flags, as investors fear Oracle could be vulnerable if demand softens and the infrastructure remains underutilized.
Simultaneously, tensions between Nvidia and OpenAI have been making headlines. In September last year, Nvidia announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, a deal that would grant the chipmaker a stake in the startup and provide OpenAI with cash for advanced chips. However, negotiations have reportedly stalled, with the deal yet to be finalized. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang clarified that the planned investment was "never a commitment" and would be decided in stages, though he later affirmed Nvidia's intention for a "huge" investment in OpenAI.
Adding to the complexity, Reuters reported that OpenAI has expressed dissatisfaction with some of Nvidia's latest AI chips and has been exploring alternatives since last year. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded on X, stating, "We love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world. We hope to be a gigantic customer for a very long time. I don't get where all this insanity is coming from."
Broader Market Impact and Credit Concerns
The uncertainty surrounding these partnerships has not only affected Oracle but also put pressure on equity shares of Microsoft and Nvidia, as investors assess their exposure to OpenAI through various commercial agreements. On a positive note, Oracle's five-year credit default swaps fell by 17 percent, indicating some investor confidence in the company's efforts to manage its debt and avoid a credit rating downgrade.
Overall, the situation underscores the high-stakes nature of AI investments and the delicate balance companies must maintain between growth ambitions and financial stability. As Oracle navigates these challenges, its ability to reassure markets while executing its funding plans will be closely watched in the coming months.
