Key Takeaways
- • ADNOC and G42 signed a deal with OpenAI on Monday at the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi to deploy advanced AI capabilities across ADNOC's operations, making ADNOC the first energy-sector company to deploy OpenAI's frontier technology, according to ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber.
- • OpenAI is reportedly racing to secure investor commitments, including from Abu Dhabi-based MGX, before rival Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November, in a fundraise that could value the company at over $1.4 trillion, per Reuters citing sources.
- • OpenAI is one of the partners in the first phase of a 5-gigawatt AI data centre project in the UAE, one of the largest outside the US.
- • The Abu Dhabi Media Office said OpenAI also signed deals with the wealth fund Mubadala and G42 unit Inception42 to apply AI to investment analysis, opportunity identification and risk assessment.
- • Sam Altman said energy is a central constraint on AI development, noting that the physical power required to run AI will be the dominant factor in its cost and scale.
Summary
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said energy is one of the company's main challenges and that OpenAI's most advanced models would be used to tackle the hardest, most valuable problems facing ADNOC. He argued that while AI costs can be reduced in most respects, the physical power needed to run it will be the dominant factor in cost and scale. Altman described the agreement as "another step" in OpenAI's relationship with the UAE. The announcement coincided with Altman's meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the UAE's largest oil and gas gathering.
According to Reuters, citing sources, OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments before Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November. The fundraise, which includes Abu Dhabi-based MGX, could value the ChatGPT maker at over $1.4 trillion. OpenAI is also one of the partners in the first phase of a 5-gigawatt AI data centre project that the UAE is building with American technology companies, one of the largest such projects outside the US.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office said OpenAI has also signed agreements with other Abu Dhabi entities, including the wealth fund Mubadala and G42 unit Inception42, to apply advanced AI to investment analysis, opportunity identification and risk assessment.
The event took place against a tense geopolitical backdrop. ExxonMobil and Chevron cancelled plans for their executives to attend the event last week, citing security concerns, amid fears of US attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes by Tehran that have unsettled oil markets. Executives from BP, Italy's Eni and Baker Hughes did attend.
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