Microsoft will invest an additional 2 billion dollars in the Gulf region.

Microsoft (MSFT.US) has announced an additional investment of approximately $2 billion in the Middle East Gulf region, marking the first update to the company’s regional business layout since the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict. Microsoft stated that by 2030, it will invest $10 billion in four Gulf countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. This includes the $7.9 billion investment in the UAE announced last year. Microsoft President Brad Smith said the new investment will focus on cloud computing business, artificial intelligence, and data center operations, covering both capital and operational expenditures. About $400 million of this will be allocated to the construction of subsea cables and related infrastructure to enhance network resilience and data transmission capacity. Previously, Microsoft also invested $1.5 billion in UAE technology company G42 and participated in the construction of local AI data centers. However, during the Iran conflict, several data centers were affected. Amazon recently disclosed that data from some facilities attacked in the UAE and Bahrain could not be recovered.