‘Artificial’ Intelligence Needs ‘Actual’ Energy

The global economy is undergoing profound shifts driven by artificial intelligence but this engine would need reliable ⁘actual⁘ energy sources and pragmatic policies to power it, according to a high ranking United Arab Emirates minister and industry executive.

In his opening remarks to the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week on Tuesday, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology and chairman of the country’s international renewable energy company Masdar, said: ⁘ AI is rewiring every industry , reshaping every sector and resetting expectations for global growth.

While the world is changing around us, one constant remains. And that is energy.
“Every algorithm, every data center, every breakthrough in advanced technology needs power to drive it. Simply put, there is no ‘artificial’ intelligence without ‘actual’ energy. In the age of AI, the world needs molecules to make electrons and pragmatic solutions.”
Al Jaber, who served as the UAE’s COP28 president and is also the CEO of its state oil and gas behemoth ADNOC, noted that realistic future planning must acknowledge role of hydrocarbons in energy generation which will continue for “many, many decades.”
He added that over the next 15 years, data center power demand will increase sixfold.

⁘Over 70% of this energy will still come from hydrocarbons.⁘
However, this should be seen not as a constraint but rather as a catalyst. “Sustainable progress is not about slowing down growth, it is about designing a better engine. It’s what we’re building in the UAE.”
Flagging various overtures by the UAE, Al Jaber said his country and its state-owned entities continue to pour billions of dollars earned from traditional energy into renewables and clean technology.

“It has reached an installed clean energy capacity of 65 gigawatt, which is now more than two thirds of the way to its target of 100 GW portfolio capacity by 2030,” adding it was demonstrative of its vision and leadership.

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