Magouik talks about SaaSpocalypse and says companies not using AI are at risk
Oracle’s year-to-date stock price chart.
Software stocks have been sold off this year as concerns grow that artificial intelligence tools will significantly disrupt companies’ business models.
Magwirk dismissed those concerns, telling CNBC’s Faber that while Oracle is leveraging AI for profit, companies that don’t adopt the technology are at great risk of disruption.
“I think there is a risk if we don’t use technology to make our products better,” he said. “The good thing is that at Oracle, our customer base and existing technology is an asset, not a liability.”
Oracle stock briefly tumbled this year as concerns about disruption rattled market sentiment, but has since recovered those losses and is up 26% since the beginning of the year.
“The fact that you can use AI, the fact that you can revolutionize the way you deliver applications and get it to your customers very quickly, that’s actually an advantage, not a disadvantage,” he said.
— Samantha Subin
Oracle CEO: “Today there is more demand than we can meet”
“There’s more demand today than we can meet,” Magouik told CNBC.
Oracle’s CEO reiterated the continued demand for AI, calling the technology “critically important” to America’s success.
“I think the faster we can actually build it and scale it, the better it will be for all Americans,” he said.
—Chris Udaily
Stargate’s internal components will cost “an additional $30 billion to $40 billion.”
The initial cost of the Stargate Michigan project is expected to be $16 billion, but Oracle’s Magouik said other components will cost much more as artificial intelligence inference accelerates.
“It’s going to cost another $30 billion to $40 billion to build everything inside, including networking and GPUs,” he said. “And those things obviously get replaced over time.”
Magwirk said the cost of infrastructure within data centers is much more expensive and has a much shorter lifespan than the buildings that house these tools.
— Samantha Subin
SoftBank invests billions of dollars to build data centers in France
SoftBank Group announced over the weekend that it will invest $53 billion in AI infrastructure in France over the next five years as part of a larger program to reach 5GW of data center capacity in France.
According to the release, the first phase will include building 3.1 million kW of AI data center capacity in the northern Hauts-de-France region by 2031, with data centers in Dunkirk, Bosquell and Boushan.
The French expansion will be the company’s biggest AI infrastructure investment in Europe, but CEO Masayoshi Son told CNBC he expects the AI surge to be much bigger than the dot-com boom.
“I think this is more than 10 times larger than dot-com, probably 50 times larger,” he said.
—Chris Udaily
Related Digital has gone through a “technology learning curve”
Associated Digital is a subsidiary of a major real estate firm that has worked on large-scale projects such as New York City’s Hudson Yards neighborhood.
Blau said Related Digital is going through a “technical learning curve” as it builds its data center business, and the company is bringing in “real technical experts to help us.”
“The fundamentals of execution, development and construction are the same,” he said.
–Ashley Caputo
Blau suggests China is behind ‘paid protesters’ against data centers
Advocacy groups and community members protest against data center laws outside the Texas State Capitol on Monday, February 23, 2026, in Austin.
Austin American Politician/Hearst Newspapers | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images
Asked about the growing public backlash against the development of AI data centers, Blau suggested without evidence that some of the opposition may come from “paid protesters” supported by foreign actors such as China.
“To be clear, I also believe that not all of the opponents are local,” Blau said. “So we’re seeing opposition essentially being bussed onto these data center sites, which is very interesting. And it’s not very clear where the capital and funding and support for these opposition is coming from.”
He said the Trump administration is “seriously considering” whether foreign entities may be supporting efforts to block the data center project. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Asked directly if he was implying that China was involved in the backlash, he replied, “That’s a possibility.”
He added that China may be supporting grassroots opposition efforts as a way to slow U.S. AI development.
The rapid construction of AI data centers spanning hundreds of thousands of square feet has sparked widespread opposition among many Americans.
According to a May Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans oppose building AI data centers in their region.
They cite concerns about the large amounts of water and energy required to power and cool such facilities, poor air quality and noise pollution in surrounding areas, rising electricity costs, and whether promises of job creation will materialize.
Cities and counties across the country recently passed moratoriums that temporarily halt new data center projects and allow Congress to further study community impacts so they can put guardrails in place. Lawmakers are also considering limiting or eliminating incentives associated with projects and requiring developers to disclose on-site water and energy usage.
— Annie Palmer
Blau expects cash flow from Stargate ‘soon’ after project completion
Blau said Related expects to deliver Stargate Michigan at the end of 2027 and “start to see cash flow shortly thereafter.”
“As you know, it takes three to four years to build a high-rise building, but this is actually much faster,” he said. “It’s a great return for us and our investors.”
The real estate giant is widely known for developing New York’s Hudson Yards and also has a stake in Equinox Fitness Club.
— Samantha Subin
Blau noted community concerns and said the company would contribute to fire stations and rec centers.
OpenAI, Oracle, and other technology companies are pledging billions of dollars to build data centers, but they are facing fierce opposition from many communities across the United States.
Last year, local opposition and lawsuits blocked or delayed at least $156 billion in data center projects, according to a report from Data Center Watch.
Michigan’s Stargate project faced significant opposition. The Saline Township board initially voted 4-1 against the data center project. Associated Digital sued the town, and after the lawsuit was resolved, the project moved forward.
“Here, Related is leveraging decades of experience working with communities and building responsibly,” Blau said.
Blau acknowledged local residents’ concerns about data centers taking away local water supplies, but said Stargate would use a “closed-loop cooling system” that would use less water than farmers.
“We maintain open space,” he said. “So we’re on about 700 acres, more than half of which is permanently preserved as agricultural land and contributes in a variety of ways to the fire department and recreation center.”
–Ashley Caputo
Related is the construction of the Stargate power infrastructure.
Saline, Michigan, $16 billion data center developed by Associated Digital for Oracle and Open AI.
Jim West | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Blau said the company is building the infrastructure to support the sprawling Michigan Stargate data center project.
This includes substations, data halls, power cooling, chips and racks, he said.
“Oracle will take it over from there and invest a lot of dollars beyond our $16 billion,” he said.
— Samantha Subin
Stargate Michigan size and location
The Michigan Stargate site was announced late last year, and Associated Digital said in a release that it will be developed on 250 acres of land in Saline Township, southwest of Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County.
The project consisted of three 550,000 square foot one-story buildings and was nicknamed “The Barn” because of the red barn marking the entrance to the site.
—Ashley Caputo
