How OpenAI and Oracle’s Collaboration Could Impact Microsoft

$Oracle(ORCL.US) $Microsoft(MSFT.US) Recently, OpenAI, Oracle, and Vantage Data Centers announced a $15 billion investment to build a large data center campus in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as an expansion of the Stargate project. The initiative, named “Lighthouse,” will include four advanced data centers, providing approximately 1,000 megawatts of power capacity to support AI computing needs, and is expected to be completed by 2028.

Previously, Oracle secured a $60 billion contract in the AI cloud infrastructure sector, easing concerns about profitability, though risks remain regarding costs and customer concentration. Microsoft allowed OpenAI to cooperate with Oracle mainly due to OpenAI’s surging compute demand, Microsoft’s own capacity constraints, and the need to balance financial risks, regulatory pressure, and its own interests. OpenAI is also building its own data centers to reduce reliance on external providers.

Oracle faces challenges in delivery and supply chain, and any delays could impact OpenAI’s R&D progress. The large-scale expansion will drive up demand for GPUs and HBM memory, benefiting related suppliers. As OpenAI rapidly expands its compute infrastructure, the competitive and cooperative dynamics among cloud giants like Microsoft and Oracle in the AI infrastructure sector continue to evolve, and future developments warrant close attention.