Google and Amazon’s greenhouse gas emissions are spiking amid increased use of AI data centres, the companies have revealed.
In a sustainability report released this week, Google noted that its emissions rose by 18 per cent in 2025, which it attributed, in part, to an expanded data centre network. Amazon, in its own sustainability report, revealed that its emissions rose 16 per cent last year for similar reasons.
These figures are notable because Google has been aiming to hit net zero emissions by 2030, while Amazon wants to achieve the same target by 2040. But of course, Big Tech’s incessant multi-trillion-dollar spending on AI — which is largely leading to losses anyway — runs counter to environmentally-friendly business practices.
As Bloomberg notes, other tech companies are dealing with their own emissions targets. For one, Microsoft has long said it plans to be carbon negative by 2030, but Bloomberg reports that it might scale back this commitment amid its own significant AI investment. (All the while, Microsoft has also been gutting its Xbox gaming division.) Meta also has a 2030 net zero target, all while it’s investing billions into AI and cloud infrastructure after a costly failed venture into “the metaverse.”
Via: Bloomberg
