Amazon’s newly launched cloud-computing facilities in the United Arab Emirates faced significant disruptions on Monday after unidentified objects hit one of its data centers, igniting a fire on Sunday. Authorities were forced to cut power to two clusters of the facility, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) projecting that full restoration could take at least a day. The outage impacted services not only across the UAE but also in neighboring Bahrain, affecting financial institutions and other critical clients relying on AWS infrastructure.
While Amazon has not disclosed the nature of the objects, the incident occurred on the same day Iran launched drones and missiles targeting Gulf States in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Experts note that if confirmed as a deliberate strike, this would mark the first time a major U.S. tech company’s data center has been taken offline by military action, highlighting new vulnerabilities for global cloud infrastructure in conflict zones.
The UAE has been aggressively positioned by U.S. tech giants as a hub for artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Companies including Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and Amazon have invested heavily in regional data centers to support services such as ChatGPT. Microsoft alone announced plans to increase its UAE investment to $15 billion by 2029. Analysts warn that regional adversaries may now consider targeting data centers, energy systems supporting compute operations, and fiber-optic chokepoints, extending the battlefield into the digital realm.
AWS stated that recovery efforts require repair of facilities, cooling and power systems, coordination with local authorities, and safety assessments for operators. Meanwhile, a dozen core cloud services remain disrupted, prompting customers to back up data and shift operations to unaffected AWS regions. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank reported outages of its platforms and mobile app, although it did not directly link the disruption to AWS. The incident raises urgent questions about the resilience of Big Tech’s Middle East expansion amid escalating geopolitical risks.
