Eni AI Initiatives for 2025: Key Projects, Strategies and Partnerships

Eni’s AI Pivot: Analyzing the Strategic Leap into Digital Energy Infrastructure

Italian energy major Eni is engineering a significant transformation, moving beyond its traditional role as an energy producer to become a key architect of Europe’s AI-powered digital future. By strategically leveraging its deep expertise in energy and investing heavily in high-performance computing (HPC) and data center infrastructure, Eni is positioning itself at the nexus of the energy and technology sectors. This analysis examines Eni’s calculated pivot, tracking its evolution from an internal adopter of AI to a commercial provider of the very infrastructure that fuels the AI revolution.

From Internal Optimization to External Infrastructure

Between 2021 and 2024, Eni’s AI strategy was primarily focused on internal optimization and foundational capability-building. The company applied AI to enhance core operations, such as using digital geoscience to improve exploration precision and deploying AI-powered robots for asset monitoring. This period was defined by partnerships aimed at building assets, like the collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to construct the HPC6 supercomputer, and exploring future technologies, such as the quantum computing venture with PASQAL. The applications were diverse but inwardly focused, designed to make Eni a more efficient energy company.

A clear inflection point occurred in 2025. With the foundational assets in place, Eni’s strategy pivoted from internal application to external commercialization and ecosystem development. The launch and subsequent opening of the HPC6 supercomputer to external startups and researchers via the “Call4Innovators” program marks a transition from being a mere user of HPC to a facilitator of innovation. More significantly, Eni’s focus sharpened dramatically on large-scale AI infrastructure. The partnerships with Khazna Data Centers and the Letter of Intent with MGX and G42 to develop up to 1GW of data centers signal a new strategic direction: building and powering the computational backbone for the AI industry in Europe. This shift from a wide range of internal tools to a focused commercial offering in sustainable AI infrastructure indicates a maturation of Eni’s digital strategy, representing a new commercial opportunity to power the digital economy with its low-carbon energy.

Capital Allocation for a Digital Future

Eni’s investment activity clearly maps to its strategic evolution from internal R&D to external infrastructure development. The initial €100 million investment to create the HPC6 supercomputer was a foundational capital expenditure. By 2025, this asset was fully operational, and the investment focus expanded to large-scale commercial projects, such as the co-development of a 500 MW AI data center campus with Khazna. This project, with ambitions to scale to 1 GW, represents a significant shift in capital allocation toward building new, AI-centric business lines. While the $26.24 billion investment in North Africa targets traditional energy projects, it underscores the company’s financial capacity to execute large-scale capital plans, a capability it is now applying to the digital infrastructure sector.

Table: Eni’s Strategic AI and Energy Investments

A Partnership-Driven Pivot to AI Infrastructure

Partnerships are the primary vehicle for Eni’s AI strategy, and their nature has evolved in lockstep with the company’s ambitions. The 2021-2024 period was characterized by collaborations to build technological capabilities, such as working with HPE on HPC6 and AWS on a geoscience platform. In 2025, the focus shifted to partnerships designed to build commercial ecosystems and large-scale infrastructure. The agreements with UAE-based Khazna, MGX, and G42 are explicitly for developing a massive data center footprint in Italy. Collaborations with Azimut aim to accelerate energy innovation financing, while the “Call4Innovators” program leverages partners like AMD and HPE to build an innovation ecosystem around the HPC6 asset. This evolution from technical build-partners to commercial and ecosystem partners demonstrates a clear strategic intent to establish a new, AI-focused business vertical.

Table: Eni’s Evolving AI and Technology Partnership Landscape

Italy as a Strategic AI Hub Fueled by UAE Capital

Geographically, Eni’s AI strategy has become intensely focused. Between 2021 and 2024, activities were centered in Italy with the construction of HPC6, but the technology partners were global, including US-based HPE and AWS, and France-based PASQAL. This reflected a strategy of sourcing best-in-class technology from abroad to build capability at home.

The year 2025 marks a significant geopolitical and economic shift. The strategy is now hyper-focused on establishing Italy, particularly the Milan area, as a premier European hub for AI infrastructure. The crucial change is the origin of the partners driving this vision: the United Arab Emirates. The concrete plan with Khazna Data Centers and the letter of intent with MGX and G42 solidify a strategic Italy-UAE corridor for AI development. This trend suggests Eni is leveraging international capital to build sovereign-level digital infrastructure, positioning Italy as a key destination for AI workloads in Europe. The risk lies in the execution of these cross-border mega-projects, but the opportunity is to create a powerful, sustainable AI hub that could reshape regional data flows.

Crossing the Chasm from In-House Tools to Commercial-Scale Services

The technological maturity of Eni’s AI initiatives has rapidly advanced. The 2021-2024 period was a mix of exploration and application. Quantum computing with PASQAL was purely exploratory (demo phase). AI in robotics and geoscience were internal applications being scaled for efficiency (pilot-to-internal commercialization). The construction of HPC6 was a large-scale project but not yet a commercial service.

The year 2025 represents a clear crossing of the chasm to commercial scale and external validation. HPC6 is no longer just an internal asset; it is a platform-as-a-service offered to the innovation community via “Call4Innovators.” The AI data center projects with Khazna and MGX are not pilots; they are commercial-scale infrastructure ventures from inception, designed to serve a burgeoning market. The launch of the “EnergIA” tool on its public website is another example of a fully deployed, commercial-facing AI product. This rapid progression from internal tools to commercial services indicates that Eni believes the technology and the market are mature enough for large-scale investment and new business model creation.

Table: SWOT Analysis of Eni’s AI Strategy Evolution

From Energy Producer to AI Infrastructure Provider: What to Watch Next

The data from 2025 signals that Eni’s AI pivot is both real and accelerating. The company is strategically leveraging its energy expertise to address the single biggest challenge facing the AI industry: the immense and growing demand for power. By branding its data centers as being powered by low-carbon energy, Eni is creating a powerful unique selling proposition.

Looking ahead, market actors should closely monitor several key signals. First, progress on the 500 MW data center campus with Khazna is paramount; milestones like construction commencement, power purchase agreements, and anchor tenant announcements will be critical validation points. Second, the conversion of the Letter of Intent with MGX and G42 into a firm, detailed project plan will indicate the true scale of Eni’s ambition. Finally, the tangible outcomes from the “Call4Innovators” program will reveal whether Eni can successfully cultivate an innovation ecosystem around its assets. The trend gaining the most traction is Eni’s new role as a sustainable infrastructure provider for the AI economy. This is no longer just about using AI for energy; it’s about powering AI with energy, a strategic shift that could redefine the company for decades to come.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core change in Eni’s AI strategy described in the analysis?
The core change is a pivot from using AI for internal operational efficiency (like in geoscience and robotics) to building and commercializing the large-scale infrastructure that powers the AI industry. Eni is transforming from an internal AI adopter into a commercial provider of sustainable AI data centers and high-performance computing (HPC) services.

What are the key projects that signal Eni’s move into the AI infrastructure market?
The most significant projects are the partnership with Khazna Data Centers to co-develop a 500 MW AI data center campus near Milan (scalable to 1 GW) and the Letter of Intent with MGX and G42 to develop up to another 1 GW of data centers in Italy. These projects represent a major capital shift toward building a commercial AI infrastructure business.

How is Eni leveraging its traditional energy business to gain an advantage in the AI sector?
Eni is leveraging its energy expertise to address the massive power demand of AI. The company plans to power its data centers with its own low-carbon energy, branding them as sustainable AI hubs. This creates a unique selling proposition by offering a solution to one of the AI industry’s biggest challenges: the need for vast amounts of sustainable power.

According to the analysis, what role do international partners, particularly from the UAE, play in Eni’s strategy?
Partners from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), such as Khazna, MGX, and G42, are central to Eni’s strategy. They are providing the capital and co-development expertise to build a massive data center footprint in Italy. This establishes a strategic Italy-UAE corridor aimed at positioning Italy as a key European hub for AI infrastructure, funded by international capital.

How did the purpose of Eni’s HPC6 supercomputer change over time?
Initially, the HPC6 supercomputer was a €100 million internal asset designed to enhance Eni’s own core operations like oil exploration and decarbonization modeling. After its launch in 2025, its purpose expanded significantly. Through the “Call4Innovators” program, Eni now offers access to HPC6 as a commercial service to external startups and researchers, transforming it from an internal tool into a platform for building a broader innovation ecosystem.

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