海湾的 AI 扩张正撞上海底电缆的脆弱瓶颈：沙乌地阿拉伯与 UAE 虽已投入数十亿美元建设 AI 基础设施，但承载资料流量的关键连结仍高度集中在少数航道上。海底电缆约承载全球 95% 的国际资料流量，而海湾通往欧洲与美国的连线，多半仍依赖红海与霍尔木兹海峡附近的少数路线；在这种集中度下，任何破坏都可能把网路延迟问题升级为战略性风险。
2025 年红海两条连接欧洲、中东与亚洲的电缆被切断，导致海湾地区网路连线恶化数日，估计造成 35 亿美元损失。AI 与超大规模云端业者要求的已不只是频宽，而是多条独立路径、可预测延迟，以及在地缘政治压力下仍能存活的网路韧性；相较 transatlantic 与 transpacific 网路常见的 4 到 5 条实体分离路径，海湾目前的路由多样性仍偏少。
因此，区域正推动新的陆缆与海缆计划：经沙乌地阿拉伯、UAE、Oman、Jordan 与 Levant 的陆地走廊；绕开 Egypt 与 Bab el-Mandeb 的新海陆系统；以及穿越 Iraq、Syria、Turkey 的北向通道。Syria 方案可支援最多 144 对光纤，远高于现今海底电缆常见的 24 对，但也更易受破坏；Stc Group 正投入 8 亿美元重建 SilkLink，Iraq 与 UAE 联盟则在推动 7 亿美元的 WorldLink。
The Gulf’s AI expansion is running into a fragile undersea-cable bottleneck: Saudi Arabia and the UAE have invested billions in AI infrastructure, yet the data links carrying that traffic still depend on a small number of routes through volatile waterways. Subsea cables carry an estimated 95 percent of all international data traffic, and Gulf connectivity to Europe and the US still relies heavily on a few paths near the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, making disruption a strategic risk rather than a mere latency issue.
In 2025, two cables linking Europe, the Middle East, and Asia were cut in the Red Sea, degrading connectivity across the Gulf for days and causing an estimated $3.5 billion in losses. AI and hyperscale cloud operators now demand more than bandwidth: they want multiple independent paths, predictable latency, and survivability under geopolitical stress. Compared with transatlantic and transpacific networks, which often operate across four or five physically separate routes, the Gulf remains far less diversified.
The region is therefore pursuing new terrestrial and subsea corridors: overland links through Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Jordan, and the Levant; subsea-terrestrial systems bypassing Egypt and Bab el-Mandeb; and northern routes through Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Syria’s proposed route could support up to 144 fiber pairs, versus 24 typical in today’s submarine cables, but above-ground systems are more vulnerable. Stc Group is investing $800 million in SilkLink, while an Iraqi-Emirati consortium is advancing the $700 million WorldLink project.