{
  "id": 18989991,
  "title": "How Big Oil Became the AI Industry's Favorite Customer",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/how-big-oil-became-the-ai-industrys-favorite-customer",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-08T18:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "OilPrice",
    "slug": "oilprice",
    "url": "https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-Big-Oil-Became-the-AI-Industrys-Favorite-Customer.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The artificial intelligence sector is forging strong partnerships with the fossil fuel industry as major tech companies enter into significant agreements with energy firms. This development aims to utilize machine learning in the energy sector and to supply power to energy-hungry data centers. A recent example of this trend is the partnership between OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and Abu Dhabi's ADNOC, according to Reuters. This collaboration represents a step in OpenAI's expanding ties with the United Arab Emirates. However, this trend is not confined to a single company or country. Globally, AI firms are striving to develop products tailored for the wealthiest entities in the oil and gas sectors. Moreover, the ties between AI and fossil fuels extend reciprocally. While big tech is rapidly constructing data centers, outpacing global power grids' capacity, legislation from the Trump administration has compelled these tech entities to supply their own energy sources for new data center projects. This has resulted in substantial natural gas contracts, with Amazon planning to operate the largest natural gas power plant in the US. Similarly, Nvidia has partnered with Japan's SoftBank and the US federal government to build the biggest fossil-fuel plant in the country for an OpenAI project in Ohio. Microsoft has also signed a 20-year deal with Chevron to provide natural-gas-fired power for a data center in West Texas. Despite AI advocates' claims about long-term energy efficiency gains, a recent study indicates that if fossil fuels gain economically from AI integration, emissions could surpass the emissions avoided. Therefore, the impact on global CO2 emissions remains uncertain. Nevertheless, AI firms are competing fiercely to secure contracts with fossil fuel giants, with OpenAI-ADNOC deal being just one of many such agreements.",
  "summary": "Artificial intelligence companies are deepening their ties with the fossil fuel industries as some of the biggest names in the tech world make massive deals with energy companies, both to power their energy-hungry data centers and to embed machine learning into the energy sector itself. Already, the artificial intelligence boom is causing a natural gas surge in the United States, and experts…",
  "key_points": [
    "OpenAI partners with ADNOC, showcasing AI's growing ties with fossil fuel industry.",
    "Big tech firms like Amazon and Nvidia enter into substantial energy contracts for data centers.",
    "Uncertain impact on global CO2 emissions as AI firms compete for fossil fuel contracts."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}