The Middle East in an era of great tech competition
Published on February 8, 2023
Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries are building their digital sovereignty as the United States and China engage in a technological ‘cold war.’ Industries operating at the intersection of AI, computing, and defense should keep an eye on the region.
As ‘cyberwar’ becomes normalized in the MENA region, and local supply chains are disrupted, regional technological architectures are becoming more important. US and potentially allied semiconductor export controls on Chinese companies force industry to make new calculations concerning the region’s economic trajectory. Even more so, as America considers additional export controls against China on AI itself, among other emerging technologies.