Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on X that a "Persian Gulf Data Authority is coming" and told regional governments, funds, and firms to withhold "finance, equity, land and energy" from AI or data companies "aiding invasions or killing children." The post did not name specific companies, explain the authority's powers, or say how Iran could enforce restrictions outside its borders. The warning follows a series of Iranian threats against Persian Gulf digital infrastructure, including an IRGC list of 18 companies (Microsoft, Google, Meta, Apple, Oracle, Nvidia, and UAE-based G42) whose regional operations it said could be targeted. Iran previously released a video threatening OpenAI's $30 billion Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi.
The statement comes amid an escalating Iran-related conflict context. Reuters reported that the UAE is quietly revising its planned 5-gigawatt AI data center campus — one of the largest outside the U.S. — toward a distributed network, with authorities considering air defenses and underground construction, after Iranian attacks prompted a rethink of critical infrastructure placement. The IRGC has framed U.S. AI and cloud infrastructure in the Gulf as military-adjacent targets, signaling retaliation if the U.S. strikes Iranian civilian infrastructure.
Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted a warning on X telling Persian Gulf governments, funds, and firms to stop giving finance, equity, land, or energy to AI and data companies "aiding invasions or killing children," and said a "Persian Gulf Data Authority is coming."
Same as above — Ghalibaf's Sunday post warned regional governments and investors to withhold resources from AI and data companies aiding military operations. He did not name specific firms, but the IRGC separately listed U.S. companies including Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Nvidia, and UAE-based G42.
MIran's parliament speaker just drew a line around the entire Persian Gulf — and said a new data authority is coming to enforce it.
CA data authority? From Tehran? That's rich.
MThis is real. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted the warning on X. He's telling Gulf governments and funds to stop giving finance, land, or energy to any AI or data company that, quote, aids invasions or kills children.
CEnforcement from outside your own borders is tough, Matilda. What's he going to do, send a subpoena to Abu Dhabi?
MThat's what the whole region is wondering. Because he didn't name a single company, didn't explain what this data authority does, or how it would make anyone comply.
CIt's aimed squarely at the building boom in the Gulf — OpenAI has that thirty billion dollar Stargate data center going up in Abu Dhabi.
MAnd Tehran already put out a video threatening that exact site. The IRGC even listed eighteen companies it says could be targeted: Microsoft, Google, Meta, Apple, Nvidia, Oracle.
CThis is my problem with it — you don't get to claim the moral high ground about "killing children" while you're threatening to blow up civilian infrastructure!
MThe Gulf states apparently aren't ignoring it. Reuters reports the UAE is quietly redesigning that five-gigawatt campus into a distributed network — underground construction, air defenses.
CSmart. One giant building is a target. Spread it out, bury it, protect it.
MG42, the Emirati AI firm named by the IRGC, told Reuters its work is progressing as planned.
CTranslation: we're not stopping. And they shouldn't.
MYou're very pro-data-center today.
CI'm pro-not-letting-Iran-run-the-region's-tech-policy, yes. Somebody threatens your hundred-billion-dollar industry, you don't cancel it — you harden it.
MFair point. But there's a real tension here. If every AI build in the Gulf needs air defenses, the cost of that compute just went way up.
CCost goes up, sure. What's the alternative — the entire Middle East cedes AI to whoever Iran approves of? No chance.
MWe'll see what this "Persian Gulf Data Authority" actually turns out to be. Right now it's a name and a threat, nothing more.
CAnd a region listening. Speaking of money sloshing around the internet...
MOh no.
CA platform called The Capital says you can now launch a token for basically any major stock — Tesla, Apple, Amazon, SpaceX, even.
MLet me guess: tokenized stocks as community rewards. Buy crypto, earn a pretend share of Apple.
CThat's the pitch. Pick which tokenized stock your community gets, launch it, and — they say — the creator gets a full cut of something.
MSo you don't own a single share of Apple. You own a token somebody made that points at Apple's stock price.
CIf it tracks the price, what's the difference to the person holding it?
MThe difference is you have no claim on the company. If the platform vanishes, so does your token. Apple doesn't know you exist.
CSame was said about stablecoins and brokerage apps. Then they got regulated and went mainstream.
MStablecoins are backed by actual dollars in a bank. This is backed by... a community's enthusiasm.
CIt's a casino dressed as a stock market. And people will line up for it anyway.
MWhich is exactly why I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole.
CNoted. Different corner of tech entirely...
MTechCrunch put out something worth a look today: an AI graveyard. A running list of projects and startups that didn't make it.
CWho's on the list?
MApple's repeatedly delayed Siri AI. OpenAI's messy "super app" launch. Projects that promised a lot and delivered a shrug.
CSo, half the AI industry.
MThat's the point of the list. The hype cycle runs hot, and the graveyard fills up fast.
CBut here's what I notice: the big platforms stumble, add a feature late, and still have a billion users. The startups die quietly.
MThe difference between gravity and a rocket. And that's where we'll pick up next.