Microsoft, Amazon, and Google saw their combined carbon emissions jump nearly 20% over the past year, hitting 119 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent—roughly a third of France's total annual emissions. The spike is tied directly to a massive global push to build data centers for artificial intelligence. The year before, those same companies emitted 101 million metric tons, about equal to Czechia's 2024 output.

The three tech giants released their latest sustainability reports in recent weeks, each showing double-digit increases. Microsoft reported a 25% rise to 20 million metric tons, citing data center expansion. Google's emissions climbed 18%, driven by supply chain activity for rapid business growth—though the company claims its AI systems helped cut 41 million tons of CO₂ elsewhere last year. Amazon posted a 16% overall increase and a 20% jump in supply chain emissions, including construction, while insisting it's making progress toward its 2040 net-zero goal.

Academics are pushing back on the companies' green messaging. Cecilia Rikap, an economics professor at University College London, called claims of eco-friendly clouds "a marketing strategy," noting that shifting data to these giants lets other firms hide their own carbon footprints. Shaolei Ren, a UC Riverside engineering professor, pointed to a possible shortage of carbon credits to offset the surge. The industry is on track to spend $765 billion this year on AI data centers alone, with JLL forecasting about 1,200 new facilities globally by 2030. The Uptime Institute warns that projects announced last year could consume 1.3% of the world's electricity—nearly doubling current data center demand.

Source: The Guardian