How Artificial Intelligence Is Powering a New Industrial Boom
- A new ADNOC–Microsoft report finds 87% of energy firms are increasing AI and digital spending, with one-fifth already using agentic AI.
- Energy leaders see AI as a force for good - even as it doubles data center electricity use and pressures global grids.
- Oil giants like ADNOC and Aramco are investing petrodollars into AI, betting on the technology to enhance efficiency, emissions monitoring, and long-term growth.
Concern has been rising that artificial intelligence is killing jobs, and there is evidence to support this. But in the energy industry, executives are loving AI. A fifth of energy companies are already using the technology, and an overwhelming majority of executives believe AI is a force for good. For energy, it has been. AI is driving energy demand much higher than ever before, and it has reasserted the reliability of supply as a top priority.
In a report released this week, the UAE’s ADNOC and Microsoft reported that 87% of companies they surveyed are spending more on artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. What’s more, a fifth of these companies are now using agentic AI, capable of making complex decisions. “But agentic AI is more than a technical upgrade, it’s a signal that AI is becoming a strategic capability across the energy value chain,” ADNOC and Microsoft reported.
Survey respondents in China and India were especially positive towards artificial intelligence, the report reveals. All Chinese respondents viewed AI as a force for good, along with 92% of Indian respondents. The rest of the world also demonstrated strong enthusiasm for AI, with positive attitudes in Australia and Japan at 87%, falling to 83% for the United States.
As for expectations, everyone that ADNOC and Microsoft surveyed appears to be certain that the growing use of artificial intelligence would drive energy demand higher. To respond to this higher demand, the energy industry needs to start working now to ensure reliable, affordable, and—according to the report—sustainable energy supply for the future.
“Grid capacity remains a potential bottleneck to expanding the digital infrastructure supporting AI,” the authors of the report wrote. “Global data centers account for around 1.5% of the world’s electricity consumption and could double by 2030 to 945 TWh1. This represents approximately 10% of total global electricity demand growth, requiring both new generation and better use of existing assets.”
The energy consumption aspect of artificial intelligence has prompted serious concerns from climate change advocacy circles, as it has spurred a race to secure baseload power generation capacity, meaning gas, coal, and nuclear. Some from the industry, however, believe that AI itself is instrumental for the energy transition by helping transform the grid and improve power generation and distribution, while keeping energy affordable.
“From optimising grids to scientific breakthroughs, AI can help advance the shift to reliable, affordable renewable energy - unlocking the full potential of AI to benefit everyone,” OpenAI’s VP of Global Business, Nate Harbacek, who was among the respondents to the Adnoc/Microsoft survey, said.
This ambition to have AI make alternative energy sources as reliable as baseload generation is not new. So far, however, it seems to have taken the form of so-called demand response only. This means that because wind and solar installations cannot generate around the clock, consumers of electricity need to adjust their consumption habits to match generation patterns. Of course, these are the early days of the Intelligence Age, as OpenAI’s Harbacek calls it, and industries may yet find other, less controversial ways to ensure reliable and affordable energy for everyone.
In the meantime, the energy industry is eager to supply the energy that the AI industry needs. According to the survey, 71% of business executives believe AI proliferation would lead to an increase in global energy consumption in 2030. A minority of 12% believe it would actually lead to a decline in global energy consumption, which at this point is a rather eccentric view. Over a longer horizon, however, more business leaders believe AI would lead to lower energy consumption, with 27% of respondents sharing this belief. Still, a majority of 54% believe that even in 2050, AI will be a drain on energy.
This is good news for the industry to which ADNOC and many of the respondents to its survey belong. In fact, ADNOC and sector players in the Middle East are helping the AI industry grow by investing in it directly. Bloomberg reported on the trend this week, saying the Emirati state oil company, along with Aramco, were “ramping up work with their countries’ national AI champions, using petrodollars to meet the growing need for capital in the race to lead the technology.”
For energy producers, this is akin to securing long-term supply deals with refiners, so chances are that there will be more petrodollars flowing into artificial intelligence projects going forward. Per the respondents to the ADNOC/Microsoft report, it will be money well spent: AI seems to be almost too good to be true, being equally good at boosting operating efficiencies, keeping a lid on costs, and helping with emission monitoring and reduction. The main challenge on the road to the Intelligence Age seems to be a shortage of a skilled workforce to make the best of AI’s capabilities.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
ADNOC Expands Gecko Robotics Partnership to Advance AI and Energy Innovation
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has expanded its partnership with U.S.-based Gecko Robotics through three new agreements aimed at accelerating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics across its energy operations while investing in skills training for Emirati talent.
The deals, announced on November 2 at the ENACT Majlis in Abu Dhabi, include a multi-year technology deployment with ADNOC Gas, collaboration on training programs through ADNOC Technical Academy, and a broader framework to explore robotics manufacturing and AI analytics across ADNOC’s asset base.
The first agreement, signed between Gecko Robotics and AIQ, ADNOC’s joint venture with Presight, marks AIQ’s entry into robotics. Under the deal, Gecko’s Cantilever operating system will be deployed across ADNOC Gas facilities to automate inspection and maintenance through real-time robotic data collection and analytics.
A second agreement will see ADNOC and Gecko explore the wider rollout of advanced robotics and AI-powered analytics across the company’s upstream and downstream assets. The collaboration also includes evaluating local manufacturing opportunities for Gecko’s robotic systems in the UAE, reinforcing ADNOC’s strategy to localize high-tech production and expand the nation’s industrial capabilities.
The third deal, between Gecko Robotics and ADNOC Technical Academy (ATA), focuses on training UAE Nationals in robotics operations, data analysis, and maintenance - part of ADNOC’s broader push to equip its workforce with next-generation technology skills.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC’s Managing Director and Group CEO, said the agreements represent “another step on our journey to becoming the world’s most AI-enabled energy company,” adding that the deployment of robotics and AI is key to “driving greater efficiency, safety, and performance” across ADNOC’s operations.
Gecko Robotics CEO Jake Loosararian praised ADNOC’s leadership in digital transformation, saying, “The energy companies that win won’t just utilize technology, they will become technology companies. There is only one way to win this race—and that’s to acquire physical data using robotics and unlock human and machine performance from the AI that data fuels.”
The partnerships come as ADNOC accelerates its “Energy AI” strategy, part of its broader effort to digitize operations and reduce downtime through predictive maintenance and automation. AIQ has been central to this initiative, developing AI-driven solutions for optimizing production, emissions monitoring, and asset management.
This latest move positions ADNOC at the forefront of the Middle East’s growing robotics and AI landscape, reflecting both its global technology ambitions and commitment to developing local expertise.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Big Oil Is Suffering Despite the AI Energy Boom
- Artificial intelligence is fueling unprecedented investment in clean and emerging energy technologies, reshaping global energy priorities.
- Despite growing energy demand, oil producers face weak prices and record oversupply as investor interest shifts elsewhere.
- Tech billionaires and venture capitalists are betting big on geothermal and nuclear fusion, leaving traditional fossil fuel giants behind.
AI seems to be the tide that raises all energy boats. Policymakers and private enterprises around the world are adopting an all-of-the-above approach to energy sourcing – clean energy pledges be damned – in order to shore up energy security in an era of unprecedented flux. Governments around the world are greenlighting new projects to boost energy production as fast as they can in an attempt to stay one step ahead of looming energy shortages, while tech moguls bet big on proven as well as unproven energy technologies. But while the AI boom is boosting investments for energy sources from geothermal to nuclear fusion, the world’s biggest energy source is missing out on the influx of cash that seems to be flowing into every other sector.
Or rather, the amount of AI-inspired dollars flowing into Big Oil’s coffers simply isn’t enough to offset the considerable headwinds faced by the sector today. Despite a rabidly supportive policy environment in the United States and ever-increasing sanctions on Russia, The Economist reports that “times are surprisingly tough for the industry.” Even with ballooning energy demand projections, oil demand has remained soft, and global oil producers are steadily building up a serious oil glut with no signs of relief.
Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency raised its estimate for next year's oil glut, predicting a record oversupply for 2026. According to the agency’s official estimates, global oil supply will exceed demand by nearly 4 million barrels a day, potentially breaking the record for the biggest supply glut in history in annual terms.
Oil companies have been underperforming since before this increased projection hit the markets. “Since the start of last year the S&P 500 index of large American companies has produced a total return, including dividends, of 46%,” reports The Economist. “By contrast, American pedlars [sic] of oil and gas, including giants such as Chevron and Exxon, have returned just 14%.”
Meanwhile, seemingly every other energy sector is going gangbusters. Money is pouring into nuclear energy startups at such a rapid clip that there are rumblings of a bubble. Last year, private equity and venture capital investments in advanced nuclear companies hit an all-time high, “surpass[ing] the total deal value of the past 15 years combined” according to S&P Global.
Even nuclear fusion, which does not yet exist in any commercially viable form, is receiving a windfall of research and development dollars, riding on the back of the AI boom. Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI – the firm behind ChatGPT – and arguably the number one poster child of the AI sector, is also one of the world’s biggest proponents of and investors in nuclear fusion technology. He has personally poured hundreds of millions of dollars into nuclear fusion startups and headed one of the world’s buzziest potential fusion unicorns, Oklo. in part thanks to his high-profile confidence in the technology’s singular ability to meet AI’s future energy needs, a report by E.U. firm Fusion for Energy finds that the sector’s total funding has skyrocketed from US $1.7 billion in 2020 to US $15 billion as of September 2025.
At the same time, the geothermal energy market is emerging from niche status into mainstream energy investment portfolios. In 2023, the global market for geothermal energy was valued at USD 7.4 billion. It’s projected to reach a whopping USD 12.51 billion by 2032. The investment dollars are piling up as Big Tech gets bullish on the baseload clean energy. Meta and Alphabet (the companies behind Facebook and Google) are listed among the growing number of Silicon Valley firms partnering with geothermal startups. Earlier this year, Cindy Taff, chief executive of geothermal company Sage Geosystems, told The Hill that “It’s going to be the decade of geothermal.”
But while even the most fringe and emergent forms of energy are soaring to new heights from the AI boom, Big Oil is struggling to benefit from the windfall. Even as Wood Mackenzie pushes back peak oil projections to 2032, supermajors are resorting to layoffs and handing out dividends instead of reinvesting in expansion in what The Economist calls “a sure sign that Western oilmen are feeling downcast about their industry’s growth prospects.”
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
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