Silicon Valley rocked by Middle Eastern turmoil? Nvidia withdraws, Amazon attacked, Microsoft and Google face billion-dollar investment uncertainty

As US-Israel joint military operations escalate, the Middle East has become a high-risk battleground for global tech giants. Amazon data centers have been directly hit by drones, Nvidia has closed its Dubai office, Google employees are stranded locally, and tens of billions of dollars in regional AI investment plans are now shrouded in uncertainty.

According to Reuters, two AWS data centers in the UAE were directly attacked by drones, and a facility in Bahrain was damaged due to nearby explosions. Reuters noted that this is the first known instance where data centers of major US tech companies have been damaged due to military actions.

This situation has impacted the tech companies' deployment in the Middle East: Microsoft plans to invest $15.2 billion in the UAE from 2023 to 2029, Google Cloud and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund jointly announced a $10 billion plan to build a global AI hub in Saudi Arabia, and Oracle also plans to invest $1.5 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

The data center attack has cast greater uncertainty over the prospects for these promised investments.

Data Centers Hit by Military Strikes, Operations Disrupted

According to CNBC, Amazon operates warehouses and data centers in both the UAE and Bahrain, all directly affected this time. Reuters specifically pointed out that the attack on Amazon's data centers is the first known interruption of a major US tech company's data centers due to military action and is of symbolic significance.

Amazon currently has corporate offices throughout the Middle East, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel, and has been expanding operations in the region in recent years. After the recent escalation, the company has fully transitioned to remote work and has required employees to follow local government safety instructions.

Nvidia Closes Dubai Office, Google Employees Stranded Locally

According to CNBC, Nvidia has temporarily closed its Dubai office, and employees have switched to remote work. Notably, Nvidia has about 6,000 employees in Israel, the company's biggest R&D base outside the US, which means the company faces significant geopolitical risk exposure in this round of conflict.

Google was also affected. According to CNBC, dozens of Google employees were stranded in Dubai after attending a sales meeting, mainly regional staff rather than US-based employees.

Dubai serves as Google’s core hub for cloud and sales operations in the Middle East and North Africa, while Tel Aviv is also an important regional operations center for Google. Google previously announced an expansion of its new headquarters in the ToHa2 building in Tel Aviv, which is expected to become one of Google’s largest offices worldwide.

Multi-Billion AI Investment Commitments Face Geopolitical Scrutiny

The data center attack has caused renewed scrutiny of tech giants’ large-scale investment plans in the Middle East.

According to Reuters, Microsoft is advancing a total $15.2 billion investment in the UAE, spanning 2023 to 2029, based on an increasingly deep partnership with sovereign AI company G42.

Google Cloud, together with Saudi's Public Investment Fund, announced a $10 billion investment, jointly with local tech firm Humain, to build and operate a global AI hub in Saudi Arabia.

Oracle plans to invest $1.5 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, Oracle and Nvidia announced a deepened partnership at the end of 2025 to jointly advance sovereign AI strategies, including collaboration with Abu Dhabi government empowerment departments to develop AI-centered government systems.

All of these investment plans were finalized before the recent escalation of regional tensions. As US-Israel military actions continue, whether the Middle East can evolve as expected into a global hub for AI infrastructure has now become a key question for investors to reassess.

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