The tech giants' dirty secret: as they champion their eco-friendly credentials, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google's combined carbon emissions have soared by almost a fifth in just one year, highlighting the devastating environmental cost of our growing reliance on cloud services and artificial intelligence. The latest figures reveal that these companies are now responsible for releasing 119 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (mTCO₂e) into the atmosphere, an increase largely attributed to the global datacentre boom.
This collective footprint is a staggering one-third of France's annual emissions, surpassing Czechia's total emissions for 2024. The figures raise serious questions about the sincerity of these companies' environmental commitments, particularly given their previous efforts to reduce their impact. Microsoft reported a 25% increase in its emissions due to datacentre expansion, while Google saw an 18% rise linked to supply chain activities supporting rapid business growth, and Amazon's overall emissions increased by 16%, with supply chain emissions rising by 20%.
The surge is directly linked to the unprecedented investment in AI infrastructure. Global tech companies are projected to spend a staggering £570 billion ($765bn) this year on establishing AI datacentres worldwide, from Norway to North Tyneside, driven by escalating demand for advanced AI tools and the underlying computational power they require.
Academics warn that this expansion has severe environmental implications. Economics professor Cecilia Rikap at University College London argues that companies' claims about their clouds being ecologically friendly are largely a marketing strategy, as businesses migrate their data and AI operations to cloud platforms, effectively outsourcing and obscuring their own digital carbon footprints. Electrical engineering professor Shaolei Ren at the University of California, Riverside, points out a strong correlation between the companies' increased emissions and their AI investments.
Despite these rising figures, all three companies reaffirm their ambitious net-zero targets: Google and Microsoft by 2030, and Amazon by 2040. However, the current trajectory presents a significant challenge to these commitments. Ren also highlights a potential shortage of carbon credits on global markets, used by companies to offset emissions, suggesting that supply may not meet demand from the tech sector.