Google to open an AI centre in Saudi Arabia

According to the announcement made by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Google, the new artificial intelligence center will support research on Arabic language artificial intelligence models and Saudi-specific artificial intelligence applications.

State-owned oil company Aramco announced that it is already using artificial intelligence throughout its operations. The artificial intelligence technology they implemented helped increase production by 15 percent in one oil field.

Google has pledged to stop developing algorithms for oil and gas production in 2020 and halve its emissions by the end of the decade in 2021. Google may be falling behind on its zero-carbon emissions climate targets, but that’s not stopping the tech giant from building a new AI-focused data center in fossil fuel-dependent Saudi Arabia.

A Google spokesperson told E&E News that the new agreement is “consistent” with its existing commitment.

Neither Google nor the Saudi Public Investment Fund shared information about the content of Saudi-specific AI applications. However, given the central role of oil in the Saudi economy, it seems highly likely that AI algorithms will be applied to oil and gas production.