Bloomberg first reported Thursday that Oracle has sent a force majeure notice to the developer of Project Jupiter, the Stargate data center campus in New Mexico.
Force majeure clauses are common in energy and commodity contracts and excuse parties from their contractual obligations if events beyond their control interfere. Oracle is not seeking to exit as the campus’ main tenant, Bloomberg’s sources said. Instead, the notice will allow the company to delay payments if the facility fails to meet its 2028 occupancy goal.
The notification comes as AI data center construction faces increasing scrutiny across the country and developers incur significant costs to build capabilities for customers like OpenAI.
Oracle claims that no delays are expected. “Project Jupiter remains on schedule,” Oracle said in a statement to CNBC. “We are committed to New Mexico and confident in our path forward.”
Blue Owl Capital, the unit that received the notice, said in its own statement to CNBC that “this notice does not change our financial commitment to this multi-year project.”
Neither Oracle nor Blue Owl immediately responded to TechCrunch’s requests for comment.
Still, the notice follows a series of setbacks on the ground, many of them related to energy supply. The campus is designed to handle 2.45 gigawatts and will be powered by Bloom Energy’s gas fuel cells, with reliable gas supply central to its schedule.
An energy transmission pipeline intended to transport gas to the site has also been delayed by about six months to February 1, 2027, after regulators repeatedly refused permits for the line. In August, Bloomberg reported that the pipeline was rerouted in response to those rejections. A separate air quality permit is also pending for a fuel cell system that will power the campus. The state Department of Environment has a Nov. 23 deadline to make a decision.
Project Jupiter is one of the flagship sites of Stargate, the AI infrastructure initiative that Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank announced with President Donald Trump at the beginning of his second term. The campus has drawn opposition from residents and environmental groups and has become a political flashpoint ahead of the midterm elections. Oracle responded with a public advocacy campaign in the state to gain support from critics of the project, according to Bloomberg.
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