AWS has advised clients in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain to migrate their data to other regions following damage to local data centers caused by drone and missile strikes. The company has not provided a timeline for when these facilities will resume operations, six months after the initial incidents.
The regional instability has impacted broader infrastructure projects in the UAE. Plans for a 5-gigawatt data center complex, which was expected to host OpenAI, have stalled with no lease signed more than a year after the initial announcement. OpenAI was projected to utilize 20% of the facility's total capacity.
To mitigate future risks, UAE officials are considering constructing underground data centers or installing advanced drone defense systems. These measures aim to protect critical infrastructure from further attacks, as the region remains a target for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has previously threatened major US technology firms.
