Cohere, Canada’s most valuable AI company, promotes a cycle in which artificial intelligence helps oil and gas firms extract and process more fuel, while that fuel supplies the electricity-hungry growth of AI data centres. The company’s 2025 guide to the energy sector recommends using generative and agentic AI across exploration, drilling, pipelines, transport and refining, claiming the tools can improve efficiency and profitability. It cites applications such as finding drilling sites and Shell’s use of AI in deep-sea exploration. The pitch contrasts with CEO Aidan Gomez’s public assurances that data centres can align with environmental goals and use clean energy. Cohere has a hydro-powered data-centre arrangement in British Columbia, but its fossil-fuel clients and sales materials point to a broader business strategy.
The tension matters as Cohere receives a $1.6 billion investment commitment from the federal government and positions itself as a national champion. Canadian plans identified by the government include 15.5 gigawatts of gas capacity for data centres, potentially adding 33 to 63 megatonnes of annual emissions. Bell, whose CEO also spoke of responsible AI infrastructure, plans a 900-megawatt Saskatchewan AI hub powered by gas. A cited study estimates AI could raise global energy-related carbon emissions by 1.2 to 4.8 percent, largely by boosting fossil-fuel production. The underlying argument is that technology and oil interests are increasingly aligned: data centres create demand for energy, while AI can make fossil-fuel extraction more productive.
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Richard Sutton argues that brute-force computation alone cannot produce intelligence and that AI needs clever new methods. He says the science of AI is far from finished. (twitter.com)
Anthropic is accused of charging Russian Claude users before identity checks, then cutting off access after verification and retaining biometric data. Critics say account bans can affect linked GitHub projects and Russian citizens living abroad, and accuse the company of failing to answer public questions. (twitter.com)
LLM coding agents boost workplace productivity but can prevent developers from learning through hands-on problem-solving and weaken their technical skills. Developers should preserve their expertise by building projects manually, studying fundamentals, and practicing without AI tools in their own time. (ducktape.blot.im)
A fabricated Newtype interview led The Diplomat to retract its article about a Korean startup’s AI war test in Ukraine. The retraction followed a diplomatic dispute. (thediplomat.com)
Microsoft Research’s AI Frontiers group brought together about 50 researchers to develop agent systems and foundational AI advances. After the team joined Microsoft AI in September, its research-first approach clashed with leadership’s emphasis on scaling. (hunch.net)
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