ISTANBUL

Data infrastructure has shifted from a tool of geopolitical competition to a direct component of modern warfare as the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran escalates.

Gloria Shkurti Ozdemir, a researcher at the think tank SETA and a lecturer at Azerbaijan’s Khazar University, told Anadolu that digital infrastructure is no longer merely a lever in geopolitical competition, as Tehran’s retaliatory attacks have shown.

Iran launched strikes against Amazon Web Services (AWS) facilities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in response to the joint military strikes by the US and Israel.

Ozdemir said history shows that conflicts previously targeted the economic and logistical infrastructure of the industrial age, like oil refineries and power plants, but the digital era has brought data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) into equally critical strategic positions.

“Large-scale data centers serve a similar function to air bases, naval bases, and logistics centers, as these structures today act as a kind of ‘digital base,’ expanding the US’ technological presence and integrating American firms into regional state capacity, while linking financial systems, public infrastructure and, in some cases, defense mechanisms to US-controlled digital infrastructure,” she said.

“These facilities therefore represent strategic infrastructure, and when civilian systems, state databases and sensitive operational processes depend on them, the infrastructure effectively becomes dual-use — historically, such infrastructure has often been considered legitimate targets in warfare,” she added.

Evolution of military AI

Ozdemir stated that the integration of AI into warfare is not new, as the US has long collaborated with technology firms to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She stated that the military used Palantir for intelligence, Google’s Project Maven for drone image analysis, and Microsoft and Amazon for defense cloud infrastructure.

Defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman integrated machine learning systems into missile and autonomous vehicle platforms, meaning even third parties relied on by the state used AI to accelerate the war effort.

“These AI systems had a much narrower scope, specializing in specific tasks like pattern recognition, logistics optimization, image analysis, and data classification,” she said.

“What makes today’s use of AI in warfare different is the introduction of large-scale foundation models developed by firms like OpenAI and xAI — these models not only analyze data but also demonstrate reasoning capabilities across multiple domains, while generating scenario simulations and providing structured decision-making support,” she added.

Accelerated warfare, shifting dynamic in Silicon Valley

Ozdemir stated that operational superiority in war is achieved by whoever can execute the OODA loop — observe, orient, decide and act — the fastest, and advanced AI systems are dramatically accelerating this process.

“Previously, the US’ superiority was based on hardware capacity, but decision-making processes were still conducted at human speeds — advanced AI systems are shifting this balance, and some analysts call this trend ‘accelerated warfare,’” she said.

“This is also reshaping deterrence calculations — whichever side can simulate likely responses by an adversary gains a strategic advantage — while the development of these systems is transforming the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Defense Department,” she noted.

“Defense innovation no longer relies solely on traditional contractors, as fundamental AI models developed for commercial purposes are increasingly integrated into national security architecture.”

She added that the boundary separating civilian and military technology is becoming increasingly blurred with the integration of commercial AI into warfare systems.

Israel’s use of AI and risks of algorithms in real combat

Ozdemir stated that Israel has historically maintained a military structure closely integrated with high-tech systems and is leveraging this edge by using US-based cloud infrastructure to significantly increase the scale and speed of its operations.

She mentioned that leaks showed Israel used AI systems like Lavender, Where’s Daddy, and Gospel during its war in Gaza to process massive volumes of intelligence data to identify targets.

According to Ozdemir, algorithmic systems provided Israel with the advantage of processing data at far greater speeds, but this acceleration in target generation also introduced serious ethical and tactical risks beyond mere technical superiority.

She noted that scaling lethal target identification through algorithms shifts elements of decision-making away from humans and toward machines.

“The military edge Israel derives from AI is not negligible — there is a clear advantage,” she said.

“However, this acceleration also carries the risk of errors, civilian harm, and accountability challenges,” she added.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim