Nvidia, Amazon, and Google are scrambling to protect employees and suspend operations across the Middle East as military conflict intensifies following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran. The sudden office closures in Dubai mark one of the most significant disruptions to Big Tech's regional presence in years, with some Google employees reportedly stranded as commercial flights are grounded and airspace restrictions tighten across the Gulf.
Tech's booming Middle East expansion just hit an unprecedented roadblock. Nvidia and Amazon shuttered their Dubai offices Tuesday night, while Google employees found themselves stranded in the emirate as commercial aviation ground to a halt following joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes in Iran, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC.
The closures mark a dramatic reversal for companies that have poured billions into Middle East operations over the past three years. Dubai has emerged as a critical hub for AI chip distribution, cloud infrastructure, and regional headquarters as tech giants courted oil-rich Gulf states flush with sovereign wealth fund capital. Now those same facilities sit empty as companies activate crisis protocols developed after previous regional flare-ups.
Nvidia's Dubai office, opened just 18 months ago to support surging demand for AI accelerators across the Gulf, ceased operations as the company moved to protect dozens of employees. The chipmaker's regional presence has grown substantially as Middle Eastern nations race to build AI capabilities and data centers, with the UAE alone committing over $100 billion to AI infrastructure development. The timing couldn't be worse - Nvidia was reportedly in the middle of major GPU delivery negotiations with several Gulf-based AI initiatives.
Amazon Web Services, which operates multiple data center regions across the Middle East, also closed its Dubai corporate offices as a precautionary measure. The cloud giant has invested heavily in regional infrastructure, with AWS announcing plans last year to expand its Bahrain and UAE regions to meet exploding demand for cloud services. The company's Middle East revenue has grown over 40% year-over-year as enterprises migrate to the cloud and governments pursue digital transformation initiatives.
