Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, the Guardian’s US tech editor, writing to you after a rodeo in rural Texas, where I celebrated Independence Day. Today in tech, we’re discussing how tech giants’ investments in AI are hindering their pledges of climate neutrality, Meta’s frantic search for new lines of business, and Americans’ anger at tech’s political influence.
Investment in AI does double-digit damage to big tech’s climate pledges
Google and Amazon released their yearly sustainability reports last week
Both disclosed rising emissions because of new investments in power-hungry AI
Microsoft appears likely to reveal a similar increase in the coming weeks
All three companies have pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions
Google and Amazon’s net-zero climate goals are slipping out of reach because of their massive investments in artificial intelligence.
Both companies released their annual sustainability reports last week, which showed soaring emissions from the AI datacenter boom, driven by the construction of new datacenters, fuel used for deliveries, and expanding electricity usage. Google’s total carbon emissions climbed 25% year-over-year, and Amazon’s shot up 16%.
While Google touted its sustainability progress, it conceded that combating the energy and water-hungry needs of AI created a dilemma.
“The environmental footprint of the data centers that power AI is growing, creating a dual challenge: managing that environmental footprint while simultaneously building infrastructure to meet growing demand and realize Al’s full potential,” reads Google’s report.
Similarly, Amazon said: “We recognize that the path to being a more sustainable company is not a straight line. Though our emissions increased in 2025, we remain steadfast in our commitment to sustainability.”
Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which will release its sustainability report in the coming weeks, fashioned themselves climate leaders in the tech sector in the previous decade, when investors prioritized ESG (environmental, social, and governance). Each set ambitious net-zero carbon goals and has heavily invested in sustainable energy projects like wind and solar.
However, as these companies fight to win the AI arms race, their stock prices depend on their ability to integrate AI, which needs energy. Their desire for huge amounts of power has outstripped their commitments to sustainability, so their emissions promises have softened.
Microsoft’s 2025 sustainability report documented a 23% increase in emissions compared to a 2020 baseline. The company’s investment in AI infrastructure has expanded since last year’s report, so 2026’s disclosures seem likely to reveal a similar or even larger spike. Meta’s 2025 sustainability report showed that emissions jumped 64% year-over-year in spite of a pledge of net-zero emissions by 2030.
Google has noted increased emissions every year since 2023 – attributing the upward…
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