The Middle East war is testing the Gulf's ambitions to become an AI hub

This photo taken on April 3, 2026 shows an exterior view of the U.S. Oracle tech corporation in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps IRGC said Thursday that it had hit a data center of the U.S. Oracle tech corporation based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Wen Xinnian/Xinhua via ) Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | The Gulf's ambition to become a global hub for artificial intelligence is being tested, as the potential for a prolonged conflict in the Middle East raises questions over energy security, infrastructure resilience and investor confidence. Before the war began in February, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were racing to position themselves at the center of the AI boom, leveraging abundant, low-cost energy and strategic geography to encourage hyperscalers to build out vast data center networks there. But two Amazon data centers in the UAE were targeted early in the war and, nearly three months later, oil prices remain around $100 a barrel and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. While investors and companies involved in AI infrastructure in the Middle East told CNBC they were bullish about the region's future in the sector, rising geopolitical risk in the region could impact AI projects, analysts said. Investment decisions into some data center projects in the region have been paused or are taking longer as the conflict continues. …