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Tech companies have been funnelling billions of dollars into AI infrastructure projects in the Middle East over the past few years, drawn in by cheap and readily available energy and land, alongside local government support.
But the Iran war spilling over into neighbouring countries in the Middle East throws questions over the future of the data center and digital infrastructure buildout in the region, particularly if it becomes a prolonged conflict, experts told CNBC.
Data centers have already been targeted. Iran’s wave of retaliatory attacks hit AWS facilities in the UAE and Bahrain, causing banking, payments, enterprise and consumer services to experience outages.
While the Iran war will likely not see hyperscalers walking away from existing AI infrastructure builds in the region, it could impact future investment in the case of drawn-out hostilities.
