OpenAI Strikes Deal With ADNOC to Deploy AI Across Abu Dhabi Energy Operations
OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, has agreed to bring AI technology into the operations of ADNOC, Abu Dhabi's state-owned energy company. This deal is one of several partnerships between major technology companies and the fossil fuel industry. Other examples include gas power plants in Texas and a 20-year electricity deal between Microsoft and Chevron.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has made a deal with ADNOC, Abu Dhabi's state-owned energy company, to use AI across its operations. This shows how closely technology companies and the oil industry are now connected.
The agreement aims to "deploy advanced AI capabilities across the state energy firm's operations." It is the latest step in OpenAI's growing relationship with the United Arab Emirates.
A wider push into oil and gas
The ADNOC deal was the biggest example of a wider effort at the ADIPEC energy conference. There, technology companies presented special AI tools for drilling sites, oil refineries and other energy facilities. AI companies are looking to sell their services to some of the world's wealthiest customers.
The relationship works in both directions. Large technology companies are building data centers faster than electricity networks can supply them with power. Laws introduced under the Trump administration have also pushed technology companies to provide their own energy for new data centers.
Gas contracts pile up
In practice, this has led to large deals for natural gas. Amazon is building a power plant that burns natural gas in Texas. If the company completes its current plan to build seven gas plants, they will together become the largest single source of power-related emissions in the United States.
In August, Nvidia said it would work with Japan's SoftBank and the US federal government to build the country's largest fossil fuel power plant. The plant would provide electricity for an OpenAI project in Ohio. Microsoft has also signed a 20-year agreement with Chevron to get 2.67 gigawatts of electricity from natural gas for a planned data center in West Texas.
The growth of AI is already increasing natural gas use in the United States. Experts believe data center companies could keep fossil fuels in use around the world for longer, even as clean energy continues to grow at record levels.
The emissions argument
People who support AI say the technology will save more energy than it uses by helping businesses work more efficiently. But a recent study published in the journal NPJ Climate Action warned of the opposite result. It found that if AI causes fossil fuel use to increase by even a small amount, the extra emissions could be greater than the emissions saved through AI.
Even if fossil fuels and renewable energy benefit equally from AI, worldwide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would still increase by between 0.47 billion and 1.8 billion tons each year. "On the smaller side it's about the emissions of Mexico annually," said Holly Alpine, one of the study's co-authors.