The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, March 9, edition that for years, Persian Gulf monarchies like the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar have attracted U.S. tech companies and Wall Street capital with favourable investment terms and luxurious office environments. A New York Times dispatch to The Globe reports that using their large sovereign wealth funds, these governments are actively reducing their dependence on oil and gas revenues, while investors are eager to explore new markets. Silicon Valley has bought into the Persian Gulf. Tech giants including Nvidia, Microsoft and Oracle all poured money into large-scale facilities across the region, including data centres to power their enormous and growing bets on artificial intelligence. But the war with Iran suddenly threatens to undermine that cozy business relationship. The Gulf nations and their Western partners are shocked by the recent conflict, raising concerns about future investments worth trillions. Following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, Iran retaliated by targeting non-military sites in various regional countries. Iranian drones hit two Amazon Web Services data centres in the United Arab Emirates and damaged one in Bahrain earlier in the week.