Iran-Israel War Turns Spotlight on Big Tech's AI Investments in Middle East

The expanding US-Israeli air war against Iran has sparked fresh uncertainty in a region that has attracted billions of dollars of investment commitments as it positioned itself as a global technology and artificial intelligence hub.
Countries in the Middle East are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, semiconductor partnerships and cloud computing as part of broader transformation plans designed to attract foreign capital and build domestic technology ecosystems.

Here are some of the Big Tech investment plans in the region:

MICROSOFT

Microsoft said it will invest $15.2 billion in the United Arab Emirates between 2023 and 2029, driven by its expanding AI partnership with sovereign AI firm G42.  The company said it has already spent $7.3 billion, including a $1.5 billion stake in G42 and more than $4.6 billion on AI and cloud data-centre capacity. Microsoft said in November that from 2026 through 2029, it plans to spend more than $7.9 billion in the UAE, as part of its $15.2 billion investment plan.

AMAZON

Amazon Web Services said it will invest more than $5.3 billion to build a new data-centre region in Saudi Arabia by 2026, bolstering the kingdom's push to become a regional tech hub ahead of World Expo 2030. The Amazon unit said the investment includes programs to train local cloud talent and will give businesses and developers in‑country access to its full suite of cloud and AI services.

ALPHABET

Google Cloud and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund have said they will invest $10 billion to build and operate a global AI hub in the kingdom, launched with local tech firm Humain. The project was first announced in 2024.

ORACLE

Oracle said it will invest $1.5 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including a new public cloud region in Riyadh and increased capacity at its existing Jeddah site, as part of an agreement with the communications ministry. Separately, Oracle and Nvidia said in late 2025 that they are deepening their partnership to support sovereign AI projects, including work with Abu Dhabi's Department of Government Enablement to build secure AI-first government systems.

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