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The Tech Download: Reputational damage, supply chain issues and local investment
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This report is from this week's The Tech Download newsletter.
Key facts
- AWS teams are working around the clock to keep Middle East services up after drone strikes, CEO Matt Garman told CNBC on Tuesday
- Meta committed to spending an additional $21 billion on AI cloud infrastructure from CoreWeave on Thursday
- Attacks on data centers in the Middle East will make it harder for countries to become major AI centers running workloads from customers in other regions, but AI demand within the region
- Intel has surged around 20% since Monday (as of Thursday morning E.T.), in signs that the chip giant could be starting to shake off its reputation as a legacy player, as partnerships with Google
Summary
The past week has seen some progress, albeit uneasy and stilted, being made towards ending the Iran war. A two-week ceasefire was agreed on Wednesday, and while it looks fragile, hopes of the conflict approaching a close are prompting analysts to look ahead and assess its longer-term impact on the global tech sector. Exports of helium, a key material in chipmaking and other manufacturing processes, have already been significantly curtailed by the fighting, and some European companies have faced delays to semiconductor deliveries from Asia due to flight path disruption. Now, analysts tell me that a month-and-a-half of conflict in the Middle East has damaged its reputation as a place to invest and could see some backers look to put cash elsewhere in the world.