Melissa Griffith

Dr. Melissa K. Griffith is a Lecturer in Technology and National Security at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) as well as affiliated faculty with the Alperovitch Institute and a senior advisor to the Emerging Technologies Initiative. From cybersecurity to tech security, she works and publishes at the intersection between technology, national security, and economic statecraft with a specialization in cybersecurity, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence. Prior to joining SAIS, she was the Director of Emerging Technology & National Security and a Senior Program Associate at the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) as well as a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC); a Visiting Research Fellow at the Research Institute on the Finnish Economy (ETLA) in Helsinki, Finland; and a Visiting Researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Brussels, Belgium. Griffith holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Talk: Digital Infrastructure Under Fire: Data Centers, Drones, and Global AI Ambitions [TLP:CLEAR]

In the split second it took for Iranian drones to impact three data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, the "cloud" became painfully physical. While the deliberate targeting of data centers is new, the playbook is old. From the cutting of telegraph cables in 1898 during the Spanish-American War to modern platforms in Ukraine, civilian digital and communications infrastructure has long housed military workflows alongside commercial, and, as a consequence, been a casualty of conflict. Today, however, the stakes of destruction and disruption have evolved beyond tactical and operational battlefield dynamics to include far broader national and global AI ambitions. For years, the regional model prioritized cost and efficiency to build a digital footprint. But as conflict intensifies, survivability takes center stage. For the Gulf, this creates a profound strategic paradox. This talk will examine recent events in the Middle East—a region recently positioned as a global hub for AI infrastructure amid rising industry investment in the wake of rising geopolitical tensions with China—and explores the implications for regional, American, and global AI ambitions.

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