Iran war unlikely to hurt AI supply chain for now, Seagate executive says

The Middle East conflict won’t significantly hamper the technology supply chain in the short run, according to a senior Seagate Technology Holdings executive addressing concerns that the war could begin to choke off the supply of vital materials such as helium, Bloomberg reported.

Some investors worry that a prolonged war might worsen already tight supplies of memory chips and storage devices. That’s weighed on sentiment around Seagate and rival WD Corp., which together supply the majority of hard drives used for long-term storage in data centers and PCs. Both have warned their hard drives are sold out for 2026.

“At this point, we have resiliency in our supply chain that is buffering us from any short-term impact,” Seagate Chief Commercial Officer Ban Seng Teh said on Bloomberg TV Thursday, adding that Seagate is exploring “several other options,” to shore up its supplies.

Qatar’s shutdown of liquefied natural gas production at Ras Laffan has also taken about a third of global helium production offline, Bloomberg Economics estimates. That’s a potential hit to chipmakers since it’s an essential component in the production chain and there’s no ready substitute, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Deng.

“If the disruption persists beyond the next several weeks, helium shortages could force chipmakers to allocate even more production capacity toward AI memory and deepen an already severe memory shortage,” Deng said. Production of high-capacity hard drives also requires helium.

Seagate and WD are fielding soaring demand for hard drives due to a global race to build data centers to feed and strengthen artificial intelligence — seen as key to determining winners and losers in both the corporate and geopolitical spheres.