Oracle shares came under significant pressure Thursday as investors assessed the growing financial requirements behind the company’s artificial intelligence infrastructure strategy. The stock fell 5.48% to $135.69 at the close, as reports indicated that Oracle and other technology companies are exploring increasingly complex financing structures to acquire the chips and computing capacity needed to support the AI boom.

Oracle Explores New Financing for AI Chips

Oracle is reportedly in discussions with Apollo and Goldman Sachs about arranging financing that could be completed as soon as this year. Under the proposed structure, investors could fund a separate company that purchases AI chips and then leases them to Oracle, potentially allowing the cloud provider to expand its computing infrastructure without adding the full amount of borrowing directly to its balance sheet.

Oracle is not alone in exploring alternative financing methods. Broadcom and SpaceX were also identified as companies pursuing similar arrangements, highlighting the growing capital intensity of the AI infrastructure race.

Capital Spending Has Surged

Oracle’s investment requirements have expanded dramatically as demand for AI computing accelerates. Capital spending reached $28.5 billion during the June-to-August quarter, compared with only $2.3 billion during the same period two years earlier.

The rapid increase illustrates the enormous financial commitment required to build data centers and acquire advanced computing hardware. Oracle has increasingly relied on debt markets to finance that expansion, with its long-term debt reportedly rising to more than $160 billion over the past two years.

That level of borrowing has made Oracle one of the largest corporate borrowers in the U.S. bond market, increasing investor sensitivity to both interest costs and the future cash flows expected from its AI infrastructure investments.

OpenAI Revenue Concerns Add Pressure

The financing concerns arrived alongside renewed questions about OpenAI’s revenue trajectory. OpenAI’s annualized revenue was reportedly approaching $50 billion, approximately $20 billion below an earlier figure reported by media outlets.

The development is particularly relevant for Oracle because OpenAI is among its largest cloud customers. Oracle has been building data-center capacity for the AI company, while its reported contract backlog reached $664 billion last quarter.

If AI companies generate less revenue than investors previously expected, questions could emerge over how quickly they can continue expanding their computing commitments. That creates an important connection between Oracle’s aggressive infrastructure spending and the financial performance of its AI customers.

The Economics of the AI Infrastructure Race

Oracle’s strategy depends on continued growth in demand for cloud computing and AI infrastructure. The company is effectively spending heavily today in anticipation of substantial future demand, creating a financial structure in which debt, capital expenditure and customer commitments are closely linked.

The potential chip-leasing structure could provide Oracle with another way to manage that expansion while limiting the immediate financing burden on its own balance sheet. However, it also illustrates how the AI boom is increasingly being supported by sophisticated forms of corporate and structured financing.

What Investors Will Watch Next

The central question for Oracle is whether future AI-related revenue growth will be sufficient to justify the extraordinary increase in capital spending and debt. A large backlog can provide visibility, but investors will ultimately need to see those commitments translate into cash flow and sustainable returns on infrastructure investment.

Oracle shares are already down nearly 30% this year, according to the source material. As the company continues expanding its AI infrastructure, the market is likely to focus increasingly on leverage, financing costs, customer concentration and the pace at which AI demand converts into actual revenue. The ability to finance growth without allowing debt-related risks to overwhelm the benefits of the AI boom could become one of Oracle’s defining challenges.