CONFLICTED
CONFLICTED
Message Heard
The Middle East’s AI Arms Race
56 minutes Posted Jun 25, 2026 at 4:00 am.
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Show notes
As the Middle East wakes up to an unnerving new normal following the signing of the M.O.U., Aimen and Thomas turn their attention to something truly cutting edge: the AI Arms Race that is rapidly transforming the Gulf into the front lines of a truly global U.S.-China confrontation.
Aimen and Thomas discuss:
Iran’s drone attacks on Gulf data centres.
AI in missile defence and military targeting.
The physical infrastructure behind cloud computing.
Cheap Gulf energy and rapid data-centre construction.
The UAE–Saudi competition for AI leadership.
Sheikh Tahnoon, G42 and MGX.
Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN strategy.
The US–China global AI rivalry.
Israel’s cybersecurity and military-AI role.
Whether AI-generated art can be genuinely creative.
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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.
Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.
Produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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