Big Tech
Greenwashes AI
The harms of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data center expansion are often justified by tech companies on the grounds that AI will ‘solve climate change’.
These claims range from sci-fi claims of superintelligence through to detailed reports stacked with hundreds of examples of ‘AI for good’ helping energy, transport and industry cut emissions. We interrogated both the logic and the evidence for these claims and find them shockingly empty.
Our research found that a staggering 74% of claims about AI’s climate benefits are unproven, serving the profits of tech and fossil fuel industries, while downplaying the major climate harms of generative AI.
Our Research
Our latest report: Stop Big Tech’s Climate Destruction: Actionable Intelligence on AI Harms and Disinformation details what policymakers can do about Big Tech’s betrayal of its climate goals in pursuit of AI as the total reported electricity consumption of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google has risen 240%, resulting in 2.4 times more pollution than their targets, an estimated collective 311 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2022 and 2025.
Our second report focuses on NVIDIA’s claims, and future reports will continue to hold the industry accountable for false or unproven statements about the supposed benefits of AI.
The new report finds NVIDIA's supply chain emissions have risen 725% since 2020, and that the undisclosed emissions from purchase of their chip products could be higher than that of state-owned Russian Coal. Despite this, the company falsely insists AI will serve as a 'net climate benefit'.’
We document several key instances where they make this claim, alongside other misdirection tactics such as a focus on efficiency metrics instead of absolute impact.
Our first research looked at 154 statements claiming AI will serve as a net climate benefit – including from companies like Google and Microsoft, and from institutions such as the International Energy Agency – and, resulted in our first report, the "AI Climate Hoax".
About Us
Our research is the result of a collaborative effort by a coalition of environmental groups dedicated to holding big tech accountable for AI's climate cost — and led by climate and energy analyst Ketan Joshi.
Press Releases
News
