AI gains, carbon pains: Google’s push for AI raises emission concerns

Google

Like many big tech companies, Google has set a net-zero emissions goal by 2030. However, it looks advancements in AI are giving a setback to that goal. Google published its annual environmental report and it was revealed that there has been a nearly 50% surge in carbon emissions since 2019.

The company’s 2024 environmental report revealed that its pollution equated to 14.3 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2023, which is a 13% year-over-year increase.

Mainly down to two words: artificial intelligence. In the last couple of years, Google has made rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Google’s data centre energy consumption and supply chain emissions, as per the report, rose significantly due to the massive push it has made in AI.

“As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute, and the emissions associated with the expected increases in our technical infrastructure investment,” Google said in the report.

Google further highlighted that there had been a 17% growth in total data centre electricity consumption in 2023. “We know that scaling AI and using it to accelerate climate action is just as crucial as addressing the environmental impact associated with it,” said Kate E Brandt, chief sustainability officer, Google.

Google, however, isn’t the only company facing this challenge. Microsoft also reported close to 30% rise in total carbon emissions since 2020.

In the report, Google admitted that reaching net-zero emissions by 2030 is an extremely ambitious goal and the company knows it won’t be easy. “Our approach will continue to evolve and will require us to navigate significant uncertainty–including the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict,” the company noted in the report.

It also said that solutions for some key global challenges don’t currently exist, and will depend heavily on the broader clean energy transition.