S&P Global sees OpenAI as a "key credit risk" for Oracle and cuts its credit rating
Quick Answer
S&P Global has downgraded Oracle's credit rating from 'BBB' to 'BBB-' due to OpenAI being a 'key credit risk.' Oracle's projected capital spending has surged to $95 billion by 2027, with OpenAI accounting for half of its $638 billion in contractual obligations, raising concerns about Oracle's financial stability if OpenAI fails.
Quick Take
S&P Global has downgraded Oracle's credit rating from 'BBB' to 'BBB-' due to OpenAI being a 'key credit risk.' Oracle's projected capital spending has surged to $95 billion by 2027, with OpenAI accounting for half of its $638 billion in contractual obligations, raising concerns about Oracle's financial stability if OpenAI fails.
Key Points
- Oracle's credit rating downgraded to 'BBB-' by S&P Global.
- Projected capital spending for Oracle increased to $95 billion by 2027.
- OpenAI represents approximately 50% of Oracle's $638 billion contractual obligations.
- If OpenAI collapses, Oracle faces excess data center capacity issues.
- SoftBank reduced its loan backed by OpenAI shares from $10 billion to $6 billion.
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~1 min read
Jul 12, 2026
S&P Global views OpenAI as a "key credit risk" for Oracle and has downgraded Oracle's rating from "BBB" to "BBB-," one notch above junk status. Oracle's AI business is burning through far more cash than expected, according to S&P. Capital spending is now projected to hit $95 billion by 2027, up from an earlier $60 billion estimate, while revenue won't materialize for years. OpenAI accounts for roughly half of Oracle's $638 billion in contractual obligations. If OpenAI collapsed, Oracle would be stuck with massive data center capacity it couldn't fill.
S&P says that puts Oracle in a tougher spot than AWS, Google, and Microsoft, which have internal workloads to absorb excess capacity and deeper financial reserves. Still, even their balance sheets would take a serious hit if OpenAI went under. Doubts are building elsewhere too. SoftBank reportedly had to cut a loan backed by OpenAI shares from $10 billion to $6 billion because lenders struggled to value the privately held company. OpenAI has pushed its IPO back to 2027.
— Originally published at the-decoder.com
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