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Oracle cuts 21,000 jobs and faces a Wisconsin power finance hurdle
Wisconsin utility rules require extra collateral for large data-center operators rated below A-, after Oracle was downgraded to BBB- by S&P.
Oracle reduced its workforce by about 21,000 employees, or 13%, to 141,000 by the end of fiscal 2026 after an AI spending push that has strained cash flow, according to reporting cited by Yahoo Finance. The cuts followed restructuring tied partly to the adoption of AI across its operations.
The pressure points are tied to Oracle's push to supply AI computing capacity, including a reportedly signed $300 billion contract with OpenAI. Funding that expansion has become more difficult, and Reuters previously reported the company pursued thousands of job cuts to help finance the buildout.
Oracle is involved in a planned nearly one-gigawatt data center in Port Washington, Wisconsin, intended to support the OpenAI agreement. But the Wisconsin Public Service Commission declined to loosen financial safeguards that are designed to prevent residential electricity customers from bearing costs if a large facility fails or shuts, according to the Financial Times.
Under We Energies' very large customer tariff, data center operators with an S&P credit rating below A- must post collateral covering power plants and transmission infrastructure. Oracle was rated BBB when the requirements were considered, and S&P later downgraded it to BBB-, citing heavy AI spending and an uncertain path toward generating enough returns, leaving it just above junk status.