AI’s rapid expansion is putting the climate pledges of major tech companies under growing pressure as their emissions rise.
The race to build and deploy artificial intelligence is putting the climate commitments of the world's biggest technology companies under growing pressure, with emissions from four major AI and cloud providers rising by as much as 239% between 2020 and 2024.
AFP reports that the finding comes from the latest Greening Digital Companies 2026 report, which warns that technology companies are making progress on climate reporting and renewable energy use but are still not reducing emissions fast enough to meet global climate targets.
The report, produced by the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), assesses 200 major digital companies worldwide. It examines greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, renewable electricity use, climate targets and companies' plans for transitioning to lower-carbon operations.
The findings illustrate the growing tension between the enormous computing demands of AI and the industry's climate ambitions.
