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Oracle Slashes 30,000 Staff in Restructure to Fund Artificial Intelligence Strategy

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<p>Oracle has laid off nearly 20 per cent of its workforce to free up billions of dollars in cash for AI.</p>

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Oracle has reportedly laid off approximately 19 percent of its global workforce to reallocate nearly $10 billion toward AI infrastructure and data centers. This massive capital shift underscores the aggressive resource mobilization by major tech firms to lead in frontier AI capabilities, prioritizing compute and hardware over human capital. While primarily focused on corporate restructuring, the scale of investment highlights the escalating arms race in AI development which has long-term implications for global AI governance and the pace of technical advancement. The movement of such significant funding into consolidated AI operations reflects a pivot towards high-powered autonomous systems that could eventually impact global risk landscapes.

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US technology giant Oracle has slashed thousands of staff in a bold restructure to free up billions of dollars for Artificial Intelligence (AI).The formerly Silicon Valley-based company laid off 30,000 employees this week to funnel billions of dollars into its AI data centres – around 19 per cent of its global workforce.The news was reportedly delivered to impacted staff in a 6am email, which saw Oracle inform workers that it was undergoing a "broader organisational change".READ MORE: 'Beyond reconsideration': Trump threat to shatter world diplomacyThe formerly Silicon Valley-based company has laid off 30,000 employees. (Getty)READ MORE: Trump told US allies to 'get your own oil'. But he might be bluffing"After careful consideration of Oracle's current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organisational change," the email read, as per Business Insider."As a result, today is your last working day."The cuts are estimated to result in up to $10 billion ($14.5 billion) in extra cash flow, which Oracle is expected to invest in AI operations.Oracle Senior Operations Manager Michael Shepherd said the company had conducted a "significant reduction" in staff and that the layoffs had impacted many of his colleagues."The individuals affected were not let go because of anything they did or didn't do," Shepherd said in a post on LinkedIn.READ MORE: NASA readies to launch astronauts on first lunar trip in half a centuryOracle co-founder Larry Ellison. (Bloomberg)"Many of them are the people you call when something is truly broken, the ones who show up early, stay late, and carry institutional knowledge that took years to build."Shepherd said a massive talent pool of engineers, architects, program managers and technology specialists just hit the job market."To everyone impacted today – the industry needs people like you, and the right opportunity is already on its way," he added.Hundreds of former staff members who suddenly lost their jobs have taken to the networking site to announce their departure from Oracle.Oracle, which bills itself as a database management company, employs around 162,000 people around the world.The company was founded in Santa Clara, California but moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas in 2020.Its annual revenue is around $18 billion ($55.4 billion).Oracle declined to comment when contacted by Nine.com.au.NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google PlayMake 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box hereSign up to our breaking newsletter here