Oracle Shares Head Toward a New Closing High on AI Enthusiasm

Oracle (ORCL) shares were on track to close at a fresh high, lifted by indications that the cloud computing company may be becoming a favorite of a giant in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry: ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

The tech news site The Information reported that executives at OpenAI aren’t happy with the speed at which Microsoft (MSFT) is moving to supply servers. It said the leadership told employees that the company would be taking on a larger role in securing data centers and AI chips, rather than depending solely on Microsoft.

That may have opened the door further for Oracle. The site pointed to OpenAI’s June deal to rent Oracle servers at a new data center in Texas with limited input from Microsoft, even though Microsoft with its Azure cloud services was OpenAI's exclusive cloud provider. While OpenAI is independent from Microsoft, the companies have a "strategic partnership."

At the time, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company “was delighted” to be working with both firms, and that the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) “will extend Azure’s platform and enable OpenAI to continue to scale.” Oracle CEO Larry Ellison added that AI leaders such as OpenAI are choosing OCI “because it is the world’s fastest and most cost-effective AI infrastructure.”

Shares of Oracle, recently up nearly 2% to above $177, have risen about 70% this year, yesterday closing at a record-high $174.37. They're among the best-performing tech shares in the S&P 500.