Oracle cancels US$7bn AI chip lease with Tencent after US pressure
Oracle has cancelled a US$7 billion deal to lease advanced AI chips to Tencent after the Trump administration raised concerns. Tencent was also asked by Guangdong officials to support domestic chips. The deal would have provided about 100,000 chips unavailable in China due to export curbs.
Oracle has cancelled a multibillion-dollar chip leasing contract with Chinese technology company Tencent after bowing to pressure from the Trump administration, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday 4 November.
US officials approached Oracle to raise concerns about the Tencent deal, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter. Tencent also received visits from top officials in Guangdong province, where the group is based, who asked the company to support domestic Chinese chips, the report added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Oracle, Tencent and the White House did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the report.
The Financial Times reported last month that Tencent signed its largest overseas lease deal, worth an estimated US$7 billion (HK$54.6 billion), with Oracle. The deal would have given Tencent access to about 100,000 advanced AI chips that were not available in China due to curbs from Washington and Beijing, according to the report. Tencent had agreed to a five-year lease across multiple Oracle data centres in Southeast Asia, the report said.