Oracle Weighs Layoffs of Up to 30,000 Employees to Fund Massive AI Push: Report

Oracle Weighs Layoffs of Up to 30,000 Employees to Fund Massive AI Push: Report

Oracle is considering cutting between 20,000 and 30,000 jobs worldwide, roughly 10 per cent of its workforce, as it looks to free up cash for an aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to a report by CIO citing investment bank TD Cowen.

The potential layoffs, which are not yet official, are part of a broader cost-cutting strategy aimed at generating $8 billion to $10 billion in cash flow, the report said. That money would help fund Oracle’s rapidly growing AI ambitions, including its $300 billion partnership with OpenAI and the construction of large-scale AI data centres.

TD Cowen noted that Oracle is under increasing pressure to secure financing for its AI buildout. Several US banks have reportedly scaled back lending for Oracle-linked data centre projects, raising concerns among investors. “Both equity and debt investors have raised questions regarding Oracle’s ability to finance this buildout,” the research report observed.

Alongside job cuts, Oracle is also exploring the sale of some business units to shore up funds. Among the assets under consideration is Cerner, its healthcare software arm acquired in 2022 for $28.3 billion.

The report triggered widespread attention online, with “Oracle” emerging as a trending search term on Google Trends on February 2, reflecting growing anxiety across the tech sector amid ongoing layoffs. If implemented, the cuts would have a significant global impact, given Oracle’s presence across multiple regions.

Oracle Eyes Fresh Funding for Cloud Expansion

Separately, Oracle has indicated plans to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 to expand capacity for its cloud infrastructure business. Co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison said the company intends to meet its funding needs through a mix of debt and equity.

“Oracle is raising money in order to build additional capacity to meet the contracted demand from our largest Oracle Cloud Infrastructure customers,” the company said in a statement, naming clients such as AMD, Meta, NVIDIA, OpenAI, TikTok and xAI.

While Oracle has not publicly confirmed the layoffs, the developments point to a pivotal phase for the company as it balances workforce costs, investor scrutiny and its race to scale up in the AI-driven cloud market.