The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI to become the world’s first energy company to deploy OpenAI Frontier, an advanced artificial intelligence platform, as the UAE accelerates its efforts to expand its position in the global AI industry.
The agreement was announced alongside a series of partnerships involving OpenAI and major UAE institutions and companies, during a visit by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to Abu Dhabi for the country’s flagship oil industry event.
Under the partnership, ADNOC will use OpenAI’s AI models to enhance its ability to analyse and optimise its energy resources, with the ambition of valuing every barrel of oil while it remains underground. The collaboration will also involve G42, the UAE-based artificial intelligence company.
ADNOC said the initiative would deploy interconnected AI agents to continuously forecast crude oil supply, demand, prices and margins, assess potential impacts before they occur, and evaluate the commercial and operational implications of decisions through an integrated process.
No financial details of the agreement were disclosed.
Speaking at the ADIPEC oil conference, ADNOC Managing Director and CEO Sultan Al Jaber said the partnership would explore the relationship between energy and artificial intelligence, noting that the industry had initially focused on what energy could provide to support AI development, while the new collaboration would examine how AI could transform the energy sector.
Altman described the UAE as one of the world’s most forward-looking countries in adopting artificial intelligence, highlighting its ambitions to become a global leader in the technology.
AI Expansion Across UAE Government and Investment
The ADNOC agreement forms part of a broader package of partnerships announced during Altman’s visit, including agreements aimed at integrating advanced AI technologies into government institutions, investment funds and businesses.
The Abu Dhabi government and OpenAI are also launching what the emirate described as the world’s first AI-native Machine-Readable Government initiative. The project aims to enable AI-powered systems to assist government officials with routine regulatory compliance assessments, including procedures related to issuing permits and certificates.
A pilot project is already underway with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, focusing on food imports.
In another agreement, state-backed investment fund Mubadala, OpenAI and Inception42, a company within G42, will collaborate on applying advanced AI capabilities to investment analysis, identifying opportunities and assessing risks.
The partnership also includes a five-year agreement to adopt Frontier AI across government, enterprise and education sectors.
UAE Strengthens Its Position in the Global AI Industry
The UAE has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence since 2017, when it appointed the world’s first AI minister and became the second country after Canada to announce a national AI strategy.
G42 was established a year later with backing from Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE president’s brother, the company offers a range of AI solutions and employs more than 23,000 people.
The country’s AI ambitions received a further boost last year when the United States approved the export of advanced Nvidia chips to the UAE and Saudi Arabia following extensive lobbying.
Aramco Expands Investment in Saudi AI Sector
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is also accelerating its investments in artificial intelligence. On Sunday, Saudi state oil company Aramco announced that it would acquire a 49% stake in Humain, a Saudi state-backed AI company seeking to expand its operations and meet growing demand for advanced computing and digital services.
Aramco plans to inject approximately 9.9 billion Saudi riyals ($2.6 billion) into Humain this year through cash, AI, computing and digital assets.
The parallel moves by ADNOC and Aramco highlight the growing convergence between the energy and technology industries, as Gulf countries seek to leverage their financial resources and energy-sector expertise to strengthen their presence in the global artificial intelligence market.
