Amazon, Google, Nvidia close offices, help stranded workers

Nvidia, Amazon And Alphabet Big tech firms are scrambling to ensure the safety of their employees traveling or based in the Middle East after the US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran over the weekend.

A massive attack on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, among others, and Iran retaliated with attacks on Israeli and US bases across the Gulf. The conflict has disrupted civilian life, internet access in Iran, air routes and fuel shipments across the region.

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

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

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

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

“Nvidia has deep roots in this region,” Huang wrote. “Thousands of our colleagues live there, and many around the world have family and friends affected by these events. Like you, I look out for the safety of our Nvidia families with great concern.”

Citing “serious security risks,” the State Department said Monday that Americans “must depart now” from countries across the Middle East using available commercial transportation. As of Tuesday afternoon, the agency said it was working to secure military aircraft and charter flights to evacuate Americans from the region amid growing instability.

Air travel was disrupted and dozens of Google employees were stranded in Dubai after the sales conference, according to the sources, who asked not to be named to discuss sensitive matters.

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

A memo sent to some cloud employees on Sunday morning noted that it still had team members on the ground, adding that the latest attacks were “concerning,” according to the employees, who asked not to be named to talk about internal matters.

While most of the employees have moved out of the area, dozens of people are still stuck there, sources said.

After the attack on Iran, airlines had mass cancellations. More than 11,000 Middle East flights were canceled due to US-Israeli strikes over the weekend, according to aviation-data firm Sirius.

Google said most of the affected employees are not US-based but employees in the region. It has security and safety measures in place for its employees in the Middle East and has advised staff to follow the guidance of local authorities.

“The situation in the Middle East is rapidly evolving 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 the 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 to explore the company’s latest AI initiatives.

Tel Aviv, a central Israeli city hit by strikes, is also an important hub for Google. The search giant is in the process of expanding into a massive new headquarters at 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 shifting its operations there as it responds to the wider conflict in the region.

The company is instructing all 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 maintains corporate offices in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey and Israel. It operates warehouses and data centers across the region and operates “quick commercial stores” in the UAE to meet 15-minute deliveries.

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

The facilities suffered structural damage, power outages and some water damage as firefighters worked to extinguish the sparks and flames. Sites remain offline and some Amazon Web Services applications, such as its popular virtual server and database services, continue to experience problems.

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

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