🇺🇸💻🇮🇷 Iran advertises America's artificial intelligence boom in the Gulf.
Amazon, Microsoft and Google are pouring billions into data centers in the Persian Gulf. Iran has warned that another US attack could put these investments, along with the submarine cables connecting them, in the line of fire.
On October 10, Iranian security chief Mohsen Razai said that data centers, artificial intelligence facilities and communications infrastructure linked to the US could become targets if America attacked Iran again.
He estimated the value of these assets at more than $2T. Razai emphasized that Iran has not yet defined them as targets.
The warning comes as US tech giants invest heavily in turning the Gulf into a global computing hub.
Microsoft has committed $15.2 billion to the UAE through 2029, expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure alongside local partners. Google Cloud and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund announced a $10 billion artificial intelligence center, while Amazon is investing more than $5.3 billion in the Saudi cloud region.
And plenty of infrastructure is already in place.
Amazon Web Services operates cloud regions in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Microsoft has facilities in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, while Google and Oracle operate across Saudi Arabia and other Gulf markets.
The danger is hardly theoretical.
During the earlier US-Iran war in March, drone strikes damaged two AWS facilities in the United Arab Emirates and affected another in Bahrain. Amazon confirmed structural damage, power outages and service outages that disrupted businesses and financial institutions.
Recovery proved difficult. Physical damage to the cloud infrastructure can take much longer to repair than a normal software outage.
The digital connections of the region are also revealed at sea. Submarine fiber optic cables passing through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz connect regional networks to international communication systems. A major disruption could affect cloud access, banking services and data traffic far beyond the damaged infrastructure itself.
This makes the economic stakes much wider than the balance sheets of American technology companies.
Gulf governments are investing heavily in artificial intelligence and cloud computing to diversify their economies. Local companies provide land, electricity and infrastructure, while American companies provide computing hardware, software and cloud platforms.
These partnerships also tie American commercial interests more closely to the security of their host countries.
Razai's warning extends Iran's message of deterrence beyond military bases and oil facilities. American investments in technology, according to him, could become vulnerable even if the US launches another attack.
For Gulf governments betting billions on becoming global AI hubs, March's AWS outages have already demonstrated how quickly a regional war can disrupt the digital services their economies increasingly depend on.
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