U.S. technology companies are stepping up their efforts to lobby government officials at home and abroad to protect their interests and develop contingency plans amid the Iran war, industry sources told CNBC.
The conflict in the Middle East has thrown the global business sector into turmoil, with soaring oil prices and major disruptions to supply chains. The tech industry has seen assets in the region become military targets, and analysts predict shortages of key materials needed to build AI infrastructure.
“U.S. tech companies are actively engaging with both U.S. diplomats in the Middle East and diplomats in the region,” Sean Evins, a partner at strategic communications consultancy KextCNC, told CNBC.They are also actively engaging with White House and Pentagon officials.
He noted that Big Tech clients, as well as the data center and semiconductor sectors, have stepped up their lobbying efforts, but declined to name them because the information is confidential.
The risk for these customers is now not only commercial but also physical, he added. “Critical submarine cables, public sector clouds, data centers and enterprise systems are physically and financially embedded in Gulf economies. Any instability can quickly begin to threaten contracts and ultimately revenues.”
A White House spokesperson told CNBC that President Donald Trump had “always been clear that there would be temporary disruption as a result of Operation Epic Fury.”
He added that the administration is “working closely with industry leaders to not only mitigate these disruptions, but also continue to lay the foundation for America’s long-term economic recovery.”
Risks to infrastructure and markets
As the Iran war escalates into a regional conflict, high-tech companies are becoming direct targets.
Apps and digital services in the United Arab Emirates reported outages in March following drone attacks on Amazon Web Services data centers in the country. In early April, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened to attack some U.S. technology companies operating in the Middle East. Nvidia, apple, microsoft and google.
Secondary effects are also being felt. Exports of helium, a key raw material for chipmaking and other manufacturing processes, have already been drastically reduced by the fighting. Experts also warn that a prolonged conflict would create uncertainty for future data center and AI infrastructure projects in the region.
Mehdi Paryavi, CEO of the International Data Centers Authority (IDCA), a U.S.-based think tank, told CNBC he was aware that tech companies were involving U.S. officials in lobbying for an end to the conflict.
“Tech companies are very concerned about this conflict because peace is a key requirement for building data centres, cloud services and AI factories,” he said.
“At a fundamental level, what these companies want is to make sure that war doesn’t become a risk to their infrastructure, markets, and systems,” Evins said.
“They also want the safety of their citizens,” he added. “They want a known operating environment. Tensions may exist, but a cease-fire, back-channel negotiations, or even a frozen conflict is preferable to continued unpredictability.”
Evins told CNBC that tech companies are becoming less concerned about traditional lobbying and possible legislative outcomes and are focusing more on their risk exposure as a company.
He added: “They want clear deterrence against attacks on commercial assets and commitments from the United States and other governments to defend those assets.” “Serious efforts are being made to prevent the conflict from spilling over into critical infrastructure.”
