'Missile Defence on Data Centres': Drone Strikes Threaten the Gulf's AI Ambitions

Following the unprecedented drone strikes on Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, the Gulf region's ambitious plans to become a global artificial intelligence superpower are facing severe scrutiny. The attacks, which sparked fires and forced emergency power shutdowns at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, highlighted the extreme physical vulnerabilities of housing critical cloud infrastructure in geopolitical hotspots. As a result, industry experts suggest that protecting hyperscale investments in the region may now require military-grade solutions, such as deploying dedicated missile defense systems—a reality that could deter future tech investments and complicate the region's economic pivot toward AI and cloud computing.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/07/it-means-missile-defence-on-data-centres-drone-strikes-raises-doubts-over-gulf-as-ai-superpower#:~:text=At%204.30am%20on%20Sunday,suppress%20the%20flames%20with%20water.