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Trump helped build the Middle East’s AI ambitions. Could his war break them?
Iran-linked strikes on Gulf data centers have disrupted cloud services and threaten AI expansion despite multibillion-dollar US-Gulf partnerships, analysts say.
- Iranian drone and missile strikes have targeted critical data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, disrupting cloud infrastructure and knocking digital services offline amid ongoing regional conflict.
- President Donald Trump brokered multibillion-dollar partnerships last year between Gulf nations and Big Tech CEOs, including Amazon's Andy Jassy, to build AI factories and diversify oil-reliant economies.
- Gartner projected Middle East technology spending reaching $155 billion in 2025, with $9.5 billion allocated for data centers—a nearly 70% jump from the previous year, though threats to critical infrastructure now jeopardize these operations.
- Following service disruptions at its Bahrain data center last week, Amazon is migrating customer workloads to other regions as conflict persists near vital energy facilities.
- Analyst Marc Einstein remains optimistic about long-term AI growth, stating the region's advantages are "unmatched," though closure of the Strait of Hormuz—key to 20% of global crude consumption per the International Energy Agency—may accelerate regional diversification.
Insights by Ground AI
12 Articles
12 Articles
President Donald Trump arrived in the Middle East last spring, where he concluded agreements that would catapult the Gulf countries to the global race for artificial intelligence.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left1Leaning Right1Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution82% Center
Bias Distribution
- 82% of the sources are Center
82% Center
C 82%
Factuality
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