Technology

OpenAI signs contract to buy $300 billion worth of Oracle computing power over the next five years — company needs 4.5 gigawatts of power, enough to power four million homes

Source

Tom's Hardware

Published

Sep 11, 2025

TL;DR

AI Generated

OpenAI has struck a monumental deal with Oracle to purchase $300 billion worth of computing power over the next five years, requiring 4.5 gigawatts of power, equivalent to powering four million homes. Despite OpenAI's projected revenue not covering even half of the payments to Oracle, the market reacted positively, boosting Oracle's stock value by over 43%. This move signifies a shift for OpenAI from relying solely on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform for computing power. Oracle will construct new data centers in various U.S. locations to meet OpenAI's computing needs.

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Zuckerberg's Meta will beam sunlight from space to power AI data centers, solar-collecting satellites will orbit 22,000 miles above Earth — firm reserves 1 Gigawatt of orbital solar energy and 100 Gigawatt-hours of long-duration storage

Meta, led by Zuckerberg, plans to power its AI data centers with sunlight beamed from space using solar-collecting satellites in geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above Earth. The company has reserved 1 Gigawatt of orbital solar energy and 100 Gigawatt-hours of long-duration storage to address the increasing energy demands of its AI infrastructure. This move is part of Meta's strategy to secure long-term energy supplies for its expanding AI operations, with a first orbital demonstration planned for 2028 and potential commercial delivery by 2030. The partnerships with Overview Energy and Noon Energy aim to tackle the challenges of intermittency and long-duration energy storage in renewable energy systems.

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Global memory shortage expected to get worse before it gets better

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Analytics group signals possible delays at 40% of AI data center construction sites — companies deny schedule holdups, but satellite imagery indicates otherwise

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