Google is opening an AI hub in oil-rich Saudi Arabia

In Brief

Google might be lagging in its climate goals, but that isn’t stopping the tech giant from building a new AI-focused datacenter in fossil fuel-dependent Saudi Arabia.

The new AI hub will support research into Arab language AI models and “Saudi-specific AI applications,” according to a an announcement from the Saudi Public Investment fund and Google. Aramco, the state-owned petroleum company, says it currently uses AI throughout its operations. At one oil field, the technology has helped boost production by 15%.

Google said in 2020 that it would stop developing algorithms for oil and gas production and in 2021 committed to cutting its emissions in half by the end of the decade. A Google spokesperson told E&E News that the new deal “comports” with its existing pledge.

Neither Google nor the Saudi Public Investment fund said what “Saudi-specific AI applications” might look like. But given fossil fuels’ central role in the Saudi economy, it’s possible that AI algorithms run out of the datacenter will be applied to oil and gas production.

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