UAE investors buy AI dip, keep crypto exposure despite conflict

UAE investors are buying the AI and tech dip, keeping exposure to software, chips and crypto as the Iran conflict stress-tests the Gulf’s bid to be a global tech hub.

United Arab Emirates investors are leaning into the artificial intelligence sell-off rather than running from it, despite the regional conflict testing the Gulf’s ambitions to become a global hub for AI and digital assets. 

New eToro data shared with Cointelegraph on Wednesday show users in the UAE boosted holdings of software and AI infrastructure names whose share prices fell sharply in the first quarter, suggesting they used the downturn to “buy the dip” rather than broadly de-risk.

The pattern suggests UAE investors are staying exposed to long-term AI and digital-infrastructure themes even as the conflict raises fresh risks for data centers, logistics and cross-border technology build-outs in the Gulf. An April 13 report from Deutsche Bank said the shock is more likely to sharpen rather than derail demand for AI, cybersecurity and sovereign digital infrastructure in the region.

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