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Today on Forbes, the next AI arms race is about fortifying data centers. The AI boom created a colossal market for compute, GPUs, networking gear, and the massive data centers that run it all. It also bolstered a second, less celebrated market, protecting those facilities and the crown jewel chips inside from threats. On top of rising anti-data center sentiment stateside, the war in Iran has turned that problem into a line item. Matt McRae, former executive at drone defense company DroneShield, who has worked with data centers in the US and Middle East, says, quote, "Data centers are secondary targets right after obvious military sites." That shift matters because the AI data
centers being built these days aren't just expensive, they're also possible strategic infrastructure during times of war. Enemies don't need to hit a military site to degrade an opponent's capability. They can hit compute that potentially underpins communications, logistics, payments, and even military planning. Executives in data center security tell Forbes that reality is driving an increased appetite for more hardened security, especially counter-drone capabilities both in the Middle East and elsewhere.
The 1 gigawatt of existing capacity in the Middle East is set to triple via 2.2 gigawatts under construction and another 12 gigawatts in planning stages, per public real estate firm JLL. In early March, drone strikes damaged Amazon Web Services data centers in Bahrain and the UAE, causing a significant and costly disruption in services. More than a month later, AWS dashboards still showed that services remain, quote, "disrupted" from the affected region, though some are now resolved. Amazon refunded March credits for those using them, the register reported, setting the company back an estimated $150 million. dollars.
Tom Harper, data center leader at insurance broker Gallagher, says that data centers usually have extensive insurance policies, but almost all of them exclude damage from military conflict. He says, quote, "Typically, a policy excludes war, so if it's an act of war, it's not going to be covered." The threat isn't just explosive drones, it's also so-called loitering drones, which probe wireless networks and map data center layouts looking for weak spots. The practical point is blunt. When US tech companies build such valuable, highly concentrated compute, it can become a tempting wartime target, and one whose disruption can extend far beyond the immediate blast radius, even
if nothing happens on US soil. In early April, Iran's Revolutionary Guard published a target list that included facilities belonging to Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon, and appeared to threaten Stargate UAE, a $30 million-plus joint venture between major players including OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Gulf-based investment firm G42 that President Trump helped unveil at the White House last year. AWS's CEO Matt Garman told Forbes that the industry is, quote, "rethinking cloud security as global conflict accelerates."
He says, quote, "The world went through a long period, starting before the Ukraine war, of not really having a lot of conflict between nations, and we see some of that ramping up." For private company operators and security vendors, the response is clear. A lot more physical security and more tools to detect, deter, and, where regulations allow and they currently do not in the states, destroy drones. The more compute you concentrate in one place, especially if that place is close to an active war zone or in a town where fears of AI data centers straining local power grids and sending electricity bills soaring are agitating locals,
the more you have to spend to keep it running and safe. That's a boon for business. Colin Sloan, vice president of strategic partnerships at Iron Site, says it's a second wind for a sector that looked sleepy 5 years ago. Data centers want more advanced security. Advanced costs more, as much as 5% of construction costs. This, according to John Bekkis, vice president of consulting firm Guidepost Solutions data center and critical infrastructure practice. JLL, which develops data centers around the world, projected last year that data center shells, that's land, power, and the building, not including GPUs, cost roughly $12 million per megawatt.
OpenAI's Sam Altman has said he'll need a staggering 250 gigawatts of power in 8 years. Back-of-the-napkin math suggests that would bring in up to $150 billion in revenue for data center security firms. That's a multi-billion dollar addressable market for access control, surveillance, sensors, fortified walls, and threat response before you even get to drone defense. For full coverage, check out Phoebe Lo's piece on forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.
