SETA researcher and Azerbaijan Khazar University faculty member Dr. Gloria Shkurti Özdemir stated that data centers have gained strategic importance in the new era, saying, "Data infrastructure has moved beyond being a tool of geopolitical competition and has become a direct component of the battlefield."
As clashes between Iran, the United States, and Israel continue, one of the most striking elements of the war has been the targeting of data centers.
Following US and Israeli attacks, Iran's retaliatory strikes reportedly hit facilities of the US-based technology company Amazon Web Services in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, causing disruptions to its cloud services.
Özdemir noted that digital infrastructure is no longer merely a geopolitical lever but has become a direct target of physical conflict.
Historically, oil refineries, ports, bridges, and power plants were targeted in wars because they formed the economic and logistical backbone of the industrial era. In the digital age, data centers have risen to a similar strategic position. Since modern economies, financial systems, and public administration rely on data flows, these centers have become critical nodes.
Özdemir emphasized that the targeted facilities were data centers operated by American companies.
She explained that the US historically projected power through overseas military bases such as air and naval bases and logistics hubs. Today, large-scale overseas data centers perform a similar function. These structures act as "digital bases," expanding US technological presence, integrating American companies into regional state capacities, and tying financial systems, public infrastructure, and even defense mechanisms to US-controlled digital infrastructure.
Thus, such facilities are not viewed merely as commercial investments but as forward-deployed strategic infrastructure. When civilian systems, state databases, and sensitive operational processes become dependent on them, they acquire a dual-use character. In international conflict history, dual-use infrastructure has often been considered legitimate targets.
She stressed that traditional domains of war—land, sea, and air—now intersect with the physical infrastructure of the digital domain. "This marks a structural transformation in how power is organized and exercised in the 21st century," she said.
Özdemir pointed out that artificial intelligence has long been part of warfare, but today it is being integrated more deeply into decision-making architecture.
During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Palantir provided intelligence platforms that helped merge battlefield data and analyze insurgent networks. Google's Project Maven analyzed drone imagery. Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS supported defense cloud infrastructure. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman integrated machine learning into missile defense systems, ISR platforms, and autonomous vehicles.
Previously, these systems were largely analytical and supportive, focusing on pattern recognition, logistics optimization, image analysis, and data classification.
Today, the key difference is the introduction of large-scale foundational AI models developed by companies such as OpenAI and xAI. These models do more than analyze data; they can conduct multi-domain reasoning, generate scenario simulations, and provide structured decision support. The issue is no longer merely image recognition but generating operational options, modeling adversary behavior, stress-testing strategies, synthesizing intelligence sources, and predicting escalation scenarios.
Özdemir said this shows AI moving from the analytical layer into the cognitive layer of warfare. In modern war, speed is decisive.
She referred to the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act), noting that the side that cycles through it faster gains operational superiority. While US dominance previously relied on hardware, decision-making still operated at human speed. Advanced AI accelerates orientation and decision phases, transforming this balance. Some analysts describe this trend as "accelerated warfare."
This transformation also reshapes deterrence calculations. The ability to analyze escalation scenarios faster and simulate adversary responses provides strategic advantage. It is also structurally transforming relations between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon, as commercially developed AI models are increasingly integrated into national security architecture.
Özdemir said Israel has long had a military structure integrated with high technology, so AI is not new for it. However, access to US-based cloud infrastructure has significantly increased its scale and speed.
During the Gaza war, systems such as Lavender, Where's Daddy, and Gospel were reportedly used in target generation and prioritization. These systems processed large volumes of intelligence data to produce extensive target lists, significantly shortening the time between intelligence gathering and operational decision-making.
While providing advantages in speed and scale, she warned this also carries risks. Algorithmic target generation may weaken human oversight. Reports that some AI-generated target lists in Gaza passed through limited human review suggest decision-making weight may be shifting toward algorithms.
"Israel's military benefit from AI should not be underestimated," she said. "However, this acceleration also increases the risk of error, civilian harm, and accountability problems."
