Emissions by global tech giants surge 150 per cent in 3 years due to AI

Operational carbon emissions for the world’s top tech companies spiked an average of 150 per cent between 202 and 2023 as investments in AI and data centres drive up electricity demand.

According to the United Nations’ digital agency, the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU)operational emissions for Amazon grew 182 per cent in 2023 against 2020 levels, while emissions for Microsoft grew 155 percent, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta grew 145 per cent, and Google parent company Alphabet grew 138 per cent over the same period, according to the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The agency linked the surge to recent breakthroughs in AI and the demand for digital services like cloud computing.

“Advances in digital innovation – especially AI – are driving up energy consumption and global emissions,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who heads the ITU.

The race for AI domination is on. In February EU Commission President Urusla von der Leyen has unveiled a mammoth-sized money plan to push the EU’s position in the AI race – a whopping €50 billion investAI initiative, €8 billion for AI “gigafactories” and a further €150 billion private-sector investment, effectively creating the world’s largest public-private AI partnership. 

This initiative would create four AI “Gigafactories”, large data centres specialised to train “very large AI models”, in order to boost European AI development, as part of the EU Cloud and AI Development Act, which according to the document is planned for 2026.

While this sounds exceptional for those working in the sector, Malta’s AI experts thread carefully before celebrating just yet.