Drone strikes on data centers spook Big Tech, halting Middle East projects

Drone strikes damaged three Amazon Web Services data centers in the Middle East during military conflict, with two facilities in the UAE directly struck and a facility in Bahrain damaged by proximity to a drone explosion. The attacks caused significant re-evaluation and pause in new large-scale tech projects in the region, creating uncertainty for major investments like an AWS expansion in Saudi Arabia. Commercial data centers were not equipped to handle physical drone threats, as the industry had focused on cybersecurity rather than kinetic military attacks.

Source: Ars Technica | 2026-04-29