Race for AI Supremacy in Middle East Is Measured in Data Centers

Saudi Arabia and the UAE both want to become the regional AI superpower, and their budding rivalry has kicked off a race to build expensive desert data centers to support the technology. Data centers alone won’t transform any country into an AI heavyweight, but no country can become one without them. Countries want the facilities within their borders for technological reasons—being close to customers can ease access to services and speed it up—and for geopolitical reasons, because the valuable data housed in the servers will be subject to local regulations and insulated from foreign meddling.