ADIPEC 2026 opens with Sam Altman and a warning on energy resilience
Artificial intelligence will require significantly more energy even as it makes energy systems more efficient, reliable and innovative, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman told the opening of ADIPEC 2026 in Abu Dhabi, an event expected to draw 239,000 participants from more than 170 countries.
Altman, speaking on the opening day of the four-day conference hosted by ADNOC, argued that AI is moving from a productivity tool to a platform for scientific discovery, with consequences for energy operations, materials development and system design. He praised the UAE as "the most forward-looking country in the world for AI adoption" and described the ADNOC-G42-OpenAI partnership as a model for applying advanced AI to real-world industrial challenges.
The energy side of the bargain was set out by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC managing director and group CEO, who said the industry must rethink how it builds, protects and delivers secure energy after a year of unprecedented disruption. He said nearly one billion barrels of crude have been drained from inventories since the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, and set out five steps: accessible supply through expanded strategic storage and flexible refining closer to consumers; routes to market; intelligent energy systems that anticipate risk; capital and insurance that keep trade moving; and people.
Al Jaber said the UAE's resilience was written years before the disruption, crediting the leadership's modernisation of ADNOC, from integrated trading to logistics and the XRG portfolio in gas, chemicals and energy solutions, for an end-to-end AI-enabled operating model. UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei told a ministerial panel that the country needs "additional layers of protection" and spare capacity, adding: "All of this will require technology, and we will need AI to design better and become more resilient." The exhibition runs across 16 halls with 2,260 exhibitors, and Asia's presence is the largest in the event's history, with China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea among 30 country pavilions. ADIPEC continues until 5 November with more than 1,800 speakers.
