Brookfield says no war impact on $20bn Qatar AI venture

Canada-based global asset manager Brookfield has reaffirmed its commitment to a $20 billion artificial intelligence joint venture with Qatar, saying the Iran conflict will not derail the project.

The Middle East is an “incredible” region, CEO Connor Teskey told Bloomberg Television. Brookfield is a long-term investor and the Middle East has “an increasing presence on the world scene”, he said. 

The comments come after Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in US and Israeli strikes on Tehran over the weekend.

A day later Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing arm of US retail giant Amazon, announced a significant service disruption after a data centre in the UAE “was impacted by objects… creating sparks and fire”. Amazon Web Services operates more than 900 data centres worldwide. 

Brookfield and Qai, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority, agreed in December to build AI infrastructure in Qatar and international markets.   

Doha has been ramping up investments in global tech companies, including Elon Musk’s xAI, to diversify its economy and build expertise in fields such as AI, quantum computing and renewable energy.

News on the Iran conflict:

• Forty-eight hours that shook the Gulf
• Gas disruptions in Middle East send prices soaring
• Middle East airspace closure cancels 13,000 flights