Datacentres drive up big tech’s carbon emissions to a third of those of France

2026-07-11 · Source: AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Cloud Computing & IT Infrastructure, Sustainable Technology · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, short

Summary

Microsoft, Amazon, and Google's collective carbon emissions surged by nearly a fifth in the past year, reaching 119m mTCO₂e in the financial year ending March 2026, equivalent to about a third of France's total emissions. This significant increase, up from 101m mTCO₂e the previous year, is primarily driven by a global boom in datacenter construction to support artificial intelligence infrastructure. Microsoft reported a 25% rise to 20m mTCO₂e, Google an 18% increase, and Amazon a 16% overall rise, with a 20% increase in supply chain emissions linked to datacenter building. Despite these increases, all three tech giants maintain their net zero targets, with Google and Microsoft aiming for 2030 and Amazon for 2040. Experts highlight the strong correlation between rising emissions and AI investments, noting a projected \$765bn spend on AI datacenters this year and an estimated 1,200 new datacenters by 2030. This expansion is expected to nearly double current datacenter electricity demand, consuming 1.3% of global usage.

Key takeaway

For policy makers evaluating environmental regulations for the tech sector, recognize that major cloud providers' carbon footprints are rapidly expanding due to AI infrastructure. You should scrutinize "net zero" claims and consider the true environmental cost of outsourcing digital operations to these giants. This trend necessitates robust oversight and potentially new frameworks to address the significant energy demands and emissions from AI development.

Key insights

AI infrastructure expansion is rapidly increasing major tech companies' carbon emissions, challenging net-zero goals.

Principles

• Cloud migration can obscure corporate carbon footprints.
• AI investment strongly correlates with rising emissions.
• Carbon credit supply may not meet tech demand.

In practice

• Evaluate cloud providers' actual emission data.
• Factor AI infrastructure's energy demands into planning.
• Scrutinize "green" claims from cloud service providers.

Topics

• Carbon Emissions
• Datacenter Infrastructure
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cloud Computing
• Environmental Sustainability
• Net Zero Targets

Best for: Investor, CTO, VP of Engineering/Data, Tech Journalist, Policy Maker, AI Ethicist

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian.