Exclusive | Hong Kong AI firm Insilico, Aramco to partner on development of sustainable fuels and materials
- Artificial intelligence drug discovery unicorn Insilico Medicine will help Aramco develop sustainable fuels and enhance the longevity of materials
- With AI, you can get petrol and other chemical products to be much more energy efficient, Insilico CEO Alex Zhavoronkov says
Hong Kong-based Insilico will help the state-owned oil giant develop sustainable fuels and enhance the longevity of materials. The companies plan to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Insilico, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company (Luberef), the subsidiary, in Riyadh on Tuesday. Insilico also received US$95 million in an investment round led by Aramco-backed Prosperity7 Ventures in August last year.
“With AI, you can formulate petrol and other chemical products to be much more energy efficient,” Alex Zhavoronkov, Insilico’s co-founder and CEO, said in an interview with the Post. “With different conditions, you can actually achieve optimal efficiency for current fuels.”
The deal comes amid efforts by the Hong Kong leader to attract to the city a secondary listing by Aramco, which is one of the world’s most valuable companies with a market capitalisation of US$2 trillion. Lee is on a week-long trip to Saudi and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the aim of enhancing collaboration between Hong Kong and the Middle Eastern countries.
Insilico’s AI platform is used to design new molecules for drug discovery and for materials science applications. The platform can generate novel molecular structures optimised for specific properties.
The deal with Aramco will involve the use of AI to minimise environmental impact, such as carbon dioxide emissions, and to maximise fuel efficiency. The collaboration with Luberef will focus on the sustainability and longevity of base oils and lubricants.