The Tech Download: The sector's Iran problem

Uncertainty continues to reign over global supply chains and Middle East-based projects as the Iran war nears the two-week mark.

In tech, two areas crucial to the artificial intelligence boom have come to the fore: chipmakers and hyperscalers with massive AI buildout projects in countries that neighbour Iran. 

A prolonged conflict could impact the semiconductor sector's access to key materials like helium and bromine, my colleagues Arjun Kharpal and Dylan Butts wrote.

Helium is used to transfer heat when chips are made and is critical to the lithography process. 

Qatar produces over a third of the world's helium supply, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In 2023, the Semiconductor Industry Association warned of "shocks" to the chip sector if the supply of helium was disrupted.

More than 25% of the world's helium supply would be taken off the market by an extended shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, Phil Kornbluth, president of Kornbluth Helium Consulting, told CNBC.

Bromine — used in etching processes that cut circuit patterns into wafers — is another element in the spotlight. Around two-thirds of the world's bromine production comes from Israel and Jordan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

While the current impact on the supply chain of these elements "appears to be limited," Ray Wang, memory analyst at SemiAnalysis, told CNBC, a "prolonged conflict could potentially disrupt chipmakers' manufacturing operations." 

The Iran war's impact on neighbouring countries in the Middle East also raises questions about the future of the data center and digital infrastructure buildout in the region, experts told me.

A concerted push by governments in the Middle East to attract international investment — and divest away from China to appease the U.S. administration — has borne fruit. Major tech companies like Nvidia, Oracle, Microsoft and OpenAI have all announced projects in the region in recent times.

Iran's wave of retaliatory attacks targeted its neighbors' data centers and caused outages to banking, payments, enterprise and consumer services during the initial week of the conflict.

The heightened scrutiny on security in the Middle East, if the conflict continues to impact the wider region, could see a "shift in where the next wave of capacity gets built," Patrick J. Murphy, executive director of the geopolitical unit at Hilco Global, told me.

"If geopolitical risk continues to rise in the Gulf, companies may accelerate projects in places like Northern Europe, India or Southeast Asia, where power supply, regulatory frameworks and security conditions are more predictable."

While companies won't be racing to pull assets out of the region — and could, in the case of a short conflict, continue to deploy at their current pace — scenario planning will be weighing on investment committees and boards.

Rather than exiting the region, companies could take steps to hedge their investments by slowing new capital deployments or pausing planned partnerships, Tess deBlanc-Knowles, senior director at think tank the Atlantic Council, told me.

Fintech Revolut finally acquired a full U.K. banking license after a years-long wait, the company announced on Wednesday, unlocking its ability to offer a new range of products in the country, including lending.

Meta unveiled four custom, in-house chips tailored for AI-related tasks on Wednesday, as part of the company's massive data center expansion plans. 

AI data center startup Nscale raised $2 billion at a $14.6 billion valuation, the U.K.-based company announced on Monday. 

Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab received a "significant investment" from Nvidia, the companies said on Tuesday, as part of a new multiyear strategic partnership.

Tesla's China-made electric vehicle sales rose over the first two months of 2026 from the year before, regaining some lost ground to China's BYD.

Oracle stock rose this week following robust third quarter earnings