July 18, 2025
July 18, 2025
The first foundation model purpose-built for refining and petrochemicals?
Here's the thing.
The oil, gas, and petrochemical industry is under pressure like never before.
⇨ Demand is set to double in 15 years
⇨ Facilities are shutting down
⇨ Energy transition is colliding with operational cost realities
At the same time, companies are being told AI will solve it all.But here’s the truth.
Most AI was built for the internet, not industrial plants.
❌ It can’t explain its decisions
❌ It hallucinates
❌ It’s fragile with messy, real-world data
❌ It struggles with incomplete time series and unstructured reports.
Now apply that to a refinery running 24/7, filled with volatile compounds and extreme conditions.
And you start to see the problem. AI that can’t be trusted is worse than no AI at all.
That’s why Callum Adamson and his team built Orbital. The first foundation model designed specifically for refining and petrochemicals.
Instead of trying to stretch general-purpose AI into high-consequence environments, Orbital is:
✅ Purpose-built
✅ Physics-aware
✅ Production-grade
But more importantly, it takes a Tri-Modal Architecture that combines the following into federated intelligence:
1. 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 – For signals and sensor data
2. 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 – For real-world grounding
3. 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 – For intuitive interaction and explanation.
In the latest episode of the AI in Manufacturing podcast, I sat down with Callum, who is the Co-Founder and CEO of Applied Computing, to discuss the application of Superintelligenece in Oil, Gas, and Petrochemicals.
Watch/Listen now 👇
- YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dreR_VTN
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3748AXf
- Apple: https://apple.co/3lY5vhl