ABU DHABI, Nov 2 — Abu Dhabi's ADNOC and artificial intelligence firm G42 on Monday signed a deal with OpenAI to deploy advanced AI capabilities across the state energy firm's operations, marking the latest step in the ChatGPT maker's deepening ties with the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

The agreement was signed at the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi, and ADNOC chief executive Sultan Al Jaber said it will make ADNOC the first company in the energy sector to deploy OpenAI's frontier technology.

Source: Reuters

5 GWSize of the UAE AI data-centre project whose first phase counts OpenAI as a partner
$1.4 trillionPossible OpenAI valuation in its reported fundraising — yaani about $14 lakh crore

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said one of the challenges his company faces is “energy”, adding that its most advanced models would be used to “take the hardest, most valuable problems” that ADNOC faces. Altman said the deal was “another step” in the relationship between OpenAI and the UAE.

Source: Reuters

The deal was announced as Altman met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan while attending the UAE's largest oil and gas gathering, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

More Abu Dhabi deals for OpenAI

The Abu Dhabi Media Office said OpenAI had also signed deals with other Abu Dhabi vehicles, including wealth fund Mubadala and G42 unit Inception42, to apply advanced AI capabilities to investment analysis, opportunity identification and risk assessment.

Source: Abu Dhabi Media Office via Reuters

OpenAI is also one of the partners for the first phase of a 5-gigawatt AI data centre project in the UAE — one of the biggest outside the United States. Separately, Reuters reported, citing sources, that OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments ahead of rival Anthropic's expected public market debut in mid-November, including from Abu Dhabi-based MGX, in a fundraising that could value the ChatGPT maker at over $1.4 trillion. Yaani: $1.4 trillion is about $14 lakh crore.

Source: Reuters

For the lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers who live and work across the Gulf, including in the energy sector, the push by Gulf state firms into advanced AI is worth watching: it signals where investment, and future skilled jobs, in the region's biggest industry are heading.