Nvidia, Amazon temporarily close Dubai offices, Google employees stranded amid U.S.-Iran war

Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet are among the big tech firms scrambling to ensure the safety of their employees who are traveling through or based in the Middle East after joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran over the weekend.

The massive attack on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, among others, and Iran retaliated with strikes on Israeli and U.S. bases across the Gulf. The conflict has disrupted civilian life, internet access in Iran, flight routes and energy shipments across the region.

Chip tech leader Nvidia temporarily closed its Dubai offices, with employees there working remotely, according to an email reviewed by CNBC that was sent by CEO Jensen Huang to all employees early Tuesday.

Huang said in his memo that Nvidia’s crisis management team has been “working around the clock and actively supporting affected employees and their families” in the Middle East, including around 6,000 Nvidia employees based in Israel.

In 2019, Nvidia acquired Mellanox, an Israeli company that makes ethernet switches and other networking hardware, for around $7.13 billion, the largest deal in Nvidia’s history at that time. And today, outside of the U.S., Israel represents Nvidia’s largest research and development base.

As of Tuesday morning, all Nvidia employees impacted by the conflict and their immediate families were safe, Huang said.

“Nvidia has deep roots in the region,” Huang wrote. “Thousands of our colleagues live there, and many more across the globe have family and friends affected by these events. Like you, I am watching with great concern for the safety of our Nvidia families.”

The State Department said Monday that Americans should “depart now” from countries across the Middle East using available commercial transportation, citing “serious safety risks.” By Tuesday afternoon, the agency said it was working to secure military aircraft and charter flights to evacuate Americans from the region amid escalating instability.

The disruptions to air travel meant dozens of Google employees have been stranded in Dubai after a sales conference, according to sources, who asked not to be named in order to discuss sensitive matters.

The company’s cloud unit held its “Accelerate” sales kickoff in Dubai last week.

A memo was sent to some cloud employees on Sunday morning that noted it still has team members on the ground, adding that recent attacks are “concerning,” according to employees, who asked not to be named in order to speak about internal matters.

Though most employees got out of the region, dozens remain stuck there, the sources said.

Following the attack on Iran, airlines had mass cancellations. More than 11,000 Middle East flights have been cancelled since the U.S.-Israeli strikes over the weekend, according to aviation-data firm Cirium.

Google said the majority of impacted employees are not U.S.-based but in-region employees. It added that it has security and safety measures in place for its employees in the Middle East and has advised staff to follow guidance from local authorities.

“The situation in the Middle East is evolving rapidly and we are monitoring it carefully,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Our focus is on the safety and well-being of our employees in the region.”

Dubai is a regional hub for Google’s cloud and sales operations across the Middle East and North Africa. Last year, Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed visited Google’s offices, exploring the company’s latest AI initiatives.

Tel Aviv, a central Israeli city that has been hit with strikes, is also a major hub for Google. The search giant is in the process of expanding into a massive new headquarters in the ToHa2 Tower, expected to be one of its largest global sites.

Google did not immediately respond to questions about how Tel Aviv-based operations and employees have been affected by the Iran conflict.

Amazon, which has grown its presence in the Middle East region in recent years, is also altering its operations there as it responds to the widening conflict in the region.

The company is instructing all of its corporate employees in the Middle East to work remotely and “follow local government guidelines.”

“The safety of our employees and partners remains our top priority, and we are working closely with local teams and local authorities to ensure they are supported,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

Amazon operates corporate offices in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey and Israel. It also operates warehouses and data centers throughout the region, and “quick commerce outlets” in the UAE to fulfill 15-minute deliveries.

Its sprawling data center footprint became a flashpoint in the conflict on Sunday. Two data centers in the UAE were “directly struck” by drones, while a facility in Bahrain was also damaged by a nearby drone strike.

The facilities sustained structural damage, power disruptions and some water damage after firefighters worked to put out sparks and fire. The sites remain offline, and some Amazon Web Services applications, such as its popular virtual server and database services, have continued to experience issues.

AWS encouraged customers to back up their data or consider migrating workloads to other regions.

“Even as we work to restore these facilities, the ongoing conflict in the region means that the broader operating environment in the Middle East remains unpredictable,” AWS said.