Oracle is coming under growing investor pressure to outline how it will fund its AI infrastructure expansion, with one report suggesting the cloud giant may consider large-scale layoffs to help finance its data centre build-out.
A potential strategy for the company led by Larry Ellison involves reducing its workforce by 20,000 to 30,000 employees to generate $8 billion to $10 billion in cash flow, as per a report by investment bank TD Cowen released last week. The report also suggested that Oracle could consider divesting assets like the health technology platform Cerner, which it purchased for $28.3 billion in 2022.
While Oracle has not confirmed that it is conducting layoffs, it would not be the first tech giant to slash jobs in response to the mounting pressure to invest in AI. Big US firms such as Amazon, UPS, and Dow have announced an estimated total of 52,000 job cuts.
Oracle’s debt has climbed in recent months as the company’s outlook becomes increasingly tied to OpenAI—an unprofitable partner that has not clarified how it will fund its infrastructure. The company’s borrowing plans have also faced legal challenges: bondholders sued last month, alleging Oracle hid its intention to take on substantial additional debt to support its AI expansion.
Despite the scrutiny, Oracle is moving forward with funding plans. On Feb. 1, the company said it aims to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 through a mix of debt and equity to expand capacity for key Oracle Cloud Infrastructure customers, including AMD, Meta, NVIDIA, OpenAI, TikTok, and xAI, Reuters reported.
Oracle-OpenAI Deal
In September 2025, Oracle struck a deal with OpenAI requiring the AI firm to buy $300 billion in compute power over five years. TD Cowen estimates the deal will require $156 billion in capital spending. Oracle is also building AI infrastructure for Meta and Nvidia, part of a $523 billion total commitment, and is involved in the $500 billion Stargate Project to build U.S. data centres.