The Gulf's AI infrastructure depends on 7 undersea cables running through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic vulnerability as Saudi Arabia and the UAE position themselves as compute exporters. Undersea cables carry 95% of all international data traffic, and the Middle East's connectivity to Europe, the US, and Asia relies heavily on routes through the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. Two cables cut in the Red Sea in 2025 degraded internet connectivity across the Gulf for days and caused an estimated $3.5 billion in damages from lost services.
The Gulf is attempting to transform energy wealth into AI infrastructure, exporting compute capacity and cloud services the way it once exported hydrocarbons. But the region's cable concentration is now a commercial liability: AI infrastructure relies on massive, continuous data flows between hyperscale data centers and cloud providers, and even short disruptions create significant operational and financial consequences.
Hyperscalers are demanding resilience standards in the Middle East that match transatlantic and transpacific routes, which typically operate across 4 or 5 physically separate network paths. The Gulf, by comparison, remains dependent on a narrow concentration of routes through volatile waterways. In May 2026, media reports claimed Iran was considering taking control of all 7 undersea cables running through the Strait of Hormoz.
“Hyperscalers and regional carriers are pushing diversification because their requirements have moved beyond bandwidth. They now need multiple independent paths, predictable latency, and survivability during geopolitical stress.”— Imad Atwi, Partner at Strategy& Middle East
Key facts
- 01Seven undersea cables run through the Strait of Hormuz, carrying 95% of international data traffic between the Gulf, Europe, and Asia.
- 02Two cables cut in the Red Sea in 2025 caused $3.5 billion in damages from lost services across the Gulf.
- 03Stc Group is investing $800 million in SilkLink, a terrestrial route through Syria, while a UAE-Iraq consortium builds the $700 million WorldLink cable.
- 04Terrestrial systems can support 144 fiber pairs versus 24 typical in subsea cables, but remain vulnerable to physical disruption.
- 05Transatlantic and transpacific routes operate across 4 or 5 physically separate network paths; the Gulf depends on two narrow maritime corridors.
Gulf countries are now reconsidering terrestrial and subsea routes that struggled for years to move forward because of regulatory barriers, political instability, and regional conflict. A multilayered strategy is emerging: Gulf landing stations connected through terrestrial fiber corridors spanning Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman, extending towards Europe and Asia through Jordan and the Levant; new subsea-terrestrial systems bypassing chokepoints around Egypt and Bab el-Mandeb; and northern overland corridors through Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Terrestrial systems can support up to 144 fiber pairs compared to the 24 typical in today's subsea cables, meaning the capacity potential is enormous. The downside is they are above ground and vulnerable to physical disruption. The JADI route, named after Jeddah, Amman, Damascus, and Istanbul, launched just months before Syria descended into civil war in 2011. The connection was severed during the conflict and never fully restored.
“Hyperscalers now want similar route diversity across the Middle East, both for Gulf-Europe connectivity and for Europe-Asia traffic transiting the region.”— Bertrand Clesca, Partner at Pioneer Consulting
Today, with Syria enjoying a period of relative stability, Stc Group is investing $800 million in reviving that link under the name SilkLink. A consortium of Iraqi and Emirati companies is building the $700 million WorldLink cable, which will travel underwater in the Strait of Hormuz from the UAE to Iraq, then transition to land-based cables into Turkey.
Satellite connectivity is attracting growing interest as part of broader resilience planning. Satellites cannot be easily sabotaged or accidentally damaged, but they cannot carry anywhere near as much data as undersea or terrestrial cables and suffer from higher latency. There is no replacing decades of infrastructure investment in seabed cables overnight.
If WorldLink and SilkLink advance, the Gulf's dependence on two narrow maritime corridors will ease. But neither Syria nor Iraq has proved immune to the Middle East's fragile geopolitical order, and the projects are not yet finished. The region is beginning to recognize that cross-border connectivity is no longer just infrastructure for moving data but a strategic asset and a strategic vulnerability.
“Projects such as WorldLink and SilkLink are strategically important because they create additional East-West connectivity corridors that reduce reliance on maritime chokepoints.”— Carl Sykes, Neptune P2P Group
The Gulf is among the first regions globally to confront the scale of that shift and actively redesign its infrastructure around it. How it responds could shape how other AI-driven economies approach connectivity resilience in the years ahead. For now, the region's AI ambitions remain dependent on a handful of cables running through some of the world's most volatile waterways.
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