Oracle invests hundreds of billions in AI data centers, boosting Vertiv and Caterpillar

Oracle is spending the kind of money that usually gets reserved for small countries’ GDPs. The enterprise software giant has committed $300 billion in a multi-year compute agreement with OpenAI, forming the backbone of the Stargate initiative alongside SoftBank. The buildout spans campuses across Texas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Michigan, with a combined target capacity of up to 10 gigawatts.

That figure could eventually stretch to $500 billion. And two industrial companies, Vertiv and Caterpillar, are positioning themselves as the essential plumbing behind the entire operation.

The numbers behind the buildout

Oracle’s data center ambitions break down into some eye-watering line items. The Michigan campus alone has secured a $16.3 billion financing package anchored by PIMCO. Texas and Wisconsin infrastructure funding totals roughly $38 billion. And the New Mexico campus, ominously named Project Jupiter, carries an $18 billion price tag.

These aren’t speculative budget projections. Oracle has been deploying hardware at a pace that matches the rhetoric, with more than 300,000 GPUs already operational across its expanding footprint. In a recent quarter, the company added 850 MW of capacity and posted a 121% year-over-year surge in cloud infrastructure revenue.

Vertiv and Caterpillar: the picks-and-shovels play

Every gold rush needs someone selling the equipment. Vertiv and Caterpillar have formalized a strategic partnership specifically designed to serve AI data center deployments, combining their respective expertise in power management, cooling systems, and backup generation.

AI data centers consume extraordinary amounts of electricity and generate extraordinary amounts of heat. A 10-gigawatt network, the scale Oracle is targeting, needs power-and-cooling infrastructure that rivals small utility grids. Vertiv specializes in thermal management and power distribution for mission-critical facilities. Caterpillar builds the generators and backup power systems that keep those facilities running when the grid hiccups.

The partnership is explicitly aimed at speed, compressing the timeline from site selection to operational deployment. Both stocks have experienced notable volatility tied to shifting sentiment around AI infrastructure spending. When headlines suggest the AI buildout is accelerating, shares climb. When concerns about overinvestment surface, they pull back.

Why Oracle is betting this big

The $300 billion OpenAI agreement gives Oracle a guaranteed anchor tenant for its new campuses. SoftBank’s involvement adds another layer of financial backing to the Stargate initiative. Oracle’s 121% cloud revenue growth suggests the strategy is already bearing fruit, but the $16.3 billion Michigan financing package illustrates just how much external capital is required to sustain this trajectory.

Oracle’s rising debt also warrants attention. The company is taking on substantial leverage at a time when interest rates remain elevated compared to the near-zero era that fueled the last wave of infrastructure spending. The counterargument is that Oracle’s contractual commitments from OpenAI provide revenue visibility that most infrastructure buildouts lack.