- Abu Dhabi signed four agreements with OpenAI covering AI adoption in energy, government services, investment and enterprise solutions.
- ADNOC will deploy OpenAI’s GPT technology, while a government pilot is already using AI to assist with food import compliance checks.
Abu Dhabi has signed four agreements with OpenAI to expand the use of artificial intelligence across government services, energy operations and investment, following a meeting between Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on November 2.
The Crown Prince witnessed the signing of the agreements, which form part of Abu Dhabi’s plan to bring AI into key areas of its economy and move towards becoming what officials describe as the world’s first fully AI-native government.
One of the agreements involves the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), G42 subsidiary Inception42 and OpenAI. The partnership makes ADNOC the first company in the energy sector to deploy OpenAI’s frontier technology.
The companies will use OpenAI’s GPT models and computing infrastructure based in the UAE to connect AI capabilities across ADNOC’s operations. The initial work will focus on field development planning and linking decisions across production, processing, refining, logistics, sales and trading.
ADNOC said the technology will help teams analyse complex operational and commercial information and prepare development plans in hours rather than months. Human experts will retain oversight of important decisions.
Government and Investment Sectors Included in the Agreements
A second agreement introduces an AI-native Machine-Readable Government initiative between Abu Dhabi’s government and OpenAI. It will convert selected government policies and regulations into a format that AI systems can process, allowing them to assist officials with routine compliance checks, including those linked to permits and certificates.
The first pilot is already operating with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority and focuses on food imports. The Department of Government Enablement is leading the initiative. Officials will retain responsibility for final decisions, while each AI assessment will be traceable to the relevant regulation.
The third agreement brings together Mubadala, Inception42 and OpenAI to apply AI to investment analysis, identifying opportunities and assessing risks.
Under the fourth agreement, Inception42 and OpenAI will work together for five years to support the adoption of advanced AI across the UAE’s government, business and education sectors. Their work will include developing enterprise solutions for large organisations.
Altman said the UAE was setting a global standard for AI integration across public and private sectors, with a focus on safety, accessibility and responsible innovation.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office did not disclose the financial value of the four agreements. The announcements mark a further expansion of OpenAI’s work in the UAE as the country continues investing in AI infrastructure and wider adoption.
