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BusinessQuiet 4d · day 5

Oracle cancels $7B Tencent AI chip-leasing deal under Trump administration pressure

Oracle scrapped a five-year lease that would have given Tencent access to 100,000 advanced AI chips after US officials raised concerns, the FT reports.

What to know

  • Oracle cancelled a ~$7 billion, five-year lease that would have given Tencent access to up to 100,000 advanced AI chips.
  • The chips would have been housed in Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia, circumventing US export controls that normally bar Tencent from such hardware.
  • The cancellation followed Trump administration officials raising concerns directly with Oracle, per FT sources; one report also cites Chinese-side pressure.
  • The episode highlights growing friction for US AI infrastructure firms doing business with Chinese tech companies, and raises questions about Oracle chairman Larry Ellison's ties to the administration.
most voices

This is a clear case of the US blocking China's workaround of chip export controls via a third-party lease.

  • “China tried to rent 100,000 American AI chips through a U.S. company. The deal just collapsed.”

    @jwupacific · X ↗
some voices

The cancellation signals strain in Larry Ellison's relationship with Trump and feeds into broader AI-market anxiety.

  • “Turns out Larry Ellison's relationship with Trump is hitting roadblocks. Oracle has just cancelled a $7B data centre lease for Tencent after pressure from Washington. AI capacity is now being cancelled before it is built, just as the…”

    @puckrin · X ↗

Larry EllisonLarry Ellison Oracle chairmanTrump administration US executive branchTencent Chinese tech giant, intended lesseeOracle US cloud/AI infrastructure company

How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 19 pieces in one hour at Nov 4, 12 AM; 23 pieces over 5 days (15 articles · 8 posts) Nov 3, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Nov 4, 12 AM — 19 pieces · 12 articles · 7 posts — Newswires 12, X 5, Hacker News 1, +1 moreNov 4, 1 AM — quietNov 4, 2 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Nov 4, 3 AM — quietNov 4, 4 AM — quietNov 4, 5 AM — quietNov 4, 6 AM — quietNov 4, 7 AM — quietNov 4, 8 AM — quietNov 4, 9 AM — quietNov 4, 10 AM — quietNov 4, 11 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Nov 4, 12 PM — quietNov 4, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Nov 4, 2 PM — quietNov 4, 3 PM — quietNov 4, 4 PM — quietNov 4, 5 PM — quietNov 4, 6 PM — quietNov 4, 7 PM — quietNov 4, 8 PM — quietNov 4, 9 PM — quietNov 4, 10 PM — quietNov 4, 11 PM — quietNov 5, 12 AM — quietNov 5, 1 AM — quietNov 5, 2 AM — quietNov 5, 3 AM — quietNov 5, 4 AM — quietNov 5, 5 AM — quietNov 5, 6 AM — quietNov 5, 7 AM — quietNov 5, 8 AM — quietNov 5, 9 AM — quietNov 5, 10 AM — quietNov 5, 11 AM — quietNov 5, 12 PM — quietNov 5, 1 PM — quietNov 5, 2 PM — quietNov 5, 3 PM — quietNov 5, 4 PM — quietNov 5, 5 PM — quietNov 5, 6 PM — quietNov 5, 7 PM — quietNov 5, 8 PM — quietNov 5, 9 PM — quietNov 5, 10 PM — quietNov 5, 11 PM — quietNov 6, 12 AM — quietNov 6, 1 AM — quietNov 6, 2 AM — quietNov 6, 3 AM — quietNov 6, 4 AM — quietNov 6, 5 AM — quietNov 6, 6 AM — quietNov 6, 7 AM — quietNov 6, 8 AM — quietNov 6, 9 AM — quietNov 6, 10 AM — quietNov 6, 11 AM — quietNov 6, 12 PM — quietNov 6, 1 PM — quietNov 6, 2 PM — quietNov 6, 3 PM — quietNov 6, 4 PM — quietNov 6, 5 PM — quietNov 6, 6 PM — quietNov 6, 7 PM — quietNov 6, 8 PM — quietNov 6, 9 PM — quietNov 6, 10 PM — quietNov 6, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 6 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 9 AM — quietToday, 10 AM — quietToday, 11 AM — quietToday, 12 PM — quiet 1–23
Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6yesterdaynow · 1:15 PM ET
  1. 3

    NY Post details export-control workaround the deal offered

    The New York Post notes the lease, struck by Oracle and chairman Larry Ellison, would have given Tencent access to chips it would ordinarily be barred from under US export controls.

    1. first by ZeroHedge, 4d ago · also NY Post, New York Post, ZeroHedge News

      1 more headline
  2. 2

    Techstrong reports pressure came from both US and Chinese sides

    A Techstrong IT report characterizes the cancellation as occurring under both U.S. and Chinese pressure, diverging from other outlets that cite only Trump administration pushback.

    “Turns out Larry Ellison's relationship with Trump is hitting roadblocks. Oracle has just cancelled a $7B data centre lease for Tencent after pressure from Washington. AI capacity is now being cancelled before it is built, just as the midterm selloff intensifies.”
    — @puckrin, social media poster · source
    • Oracle $ORCL has reportedly canceled a $7B AI chip leasing deal with Tencent following pressure from the Trump administration, according to the FT. The five-year agreement would have given Tencent access to as many as 100,000 advanced AI chips across Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia, making i...

      @wallstengineX4d agoview on X ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
    • China tried to rent 100,000 American AI chips through a U.S. company. The deal just collapsed. Oracle just canceled a $7 billion deal that would have given Tencent access to advanced AI chips through data centers in Southeast Asia. The five-year lease would have let Tencent use chips that are res...

      @jwupacificX4d agoview on X ↗
    • Oracle has scrapped a $7B lease giving Tencent up to 100K advanced AI chips after US objections. The 5-year contract, Tencent's largest overseas lease, would have supplied chips unavailable in China from data centres across south-east Asia. Chinese labs rent that capacity mainly for model trainin...

      @rohanpaul_aiX4d agoview on X ↗
    all of them →
  3. background

    Traders flag strain between Ellison and Trump over the deal — Social commentary links the cancellation to Oracle chairman Larry Ellison's relationship with the Trump administration and ties the move to broader AI-capacity jitters amid a market selloff.

  4. background

    Reports detail scope: 100K chips, Southeast Asia data centers — Wire and financial outlets (Reuters, Bloomberg, ZeroHedge) add detail that the five-year lease, Tencent's largest overseas chip lease, would have run through Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia and given Tencent chips otherwise unavailable in China under export controls.

  5. 1

    Oracle scraps $7B chip-leasing deal with Tencent

    The Financial Times reports Oracle has cancelled a roughly $7 billion, five-year deal to lease as many as 100,000 advanced AI chips to Tencent after Trump administration officials raised concerns about the contract.

    “Intervention comes amid growing tension for US AI infrastructure groups doing business with Chinese tech giants…”
    — Financial Times
    1. first by Financial Times, 4d ago · also Techstrong IT, Reuters, Seeking Alpha, Bloomberg

      7 more headlines
    2. first by FT, 4d ago

What people are saying 1 voices from 1 site · best of 5 · verbatim