The rapid growth of artificial intelligence infrastructures is boosting emissions from Google and Amazon, calling into question their environmental commitments.
Google and Amazon are facing a sharp increase in their greenhouse gas emissions, a direct result of the rampant construction of artificial intelligence infrastructure. This trend distances the two groups from their promises of carbon neutrality, even though they had set ambitious objectives. Google has committed to reducing its emissions by half by 2030. However, according to the report published Tuesday June 30, Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have jumped 82% since 2019 (+18% over the past year alone). Those of Amazon, revealed on Wednesday July 1, climbed 58% over the same period (+16% in one year), while the group has promised to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.
This increase is mainly explained by the multiplication of data centers necessary for the operation of artificial intelligence. These installations are particularly demanding in terms of electricity, cooling water, concrete, steel and chips. The global race for AI, which accelerated after the success of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, is pushing tech giants to increase the number of data centers, worsening their ecological footprint.
Energy consumption comparable to that of entire countries
Google’s electricity consumption has doubled in three years and is approaching that of a country like Greece. According to a UN study, data centers consumed 448 terawatt hours of electricity in 2025. If they constituted a country, this would place them eleventh in the world, behind France. Google claims to have released 18.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent last year, coming from its data centers and offices, but especially from the manufacturing of processors and the construction of new giant sites to host them. Number one in online computing, Amazon has issued 80.85 million, due to the same activities, to which are added its warehouses, its logistics fleet and its deliveries around the world.
Most of this pollution is indirect: 85% of Google’s footprint and 76% of Amazon’s footprint comes from their supply chains, largely located in Asia and still very dependent on fossil fuels.
Faced with this situation, the credibility of the environmental commitments of Google and Amazon is increasingly contested. Google removed from its 2026 report the roadmap which quantified the steps before 2030, a sign that achieving the set objectives is becoming uncertain. However, the two groups continue to highlight their initiatives in favor of renewable energies. Google says it will have signed a record volume of renewable energy contracts in 2025 (12 gigawatts), while investing in nuclear and geothermal energy. Amazon presents itself as the world’s leading buyer of renewable energy for the sixth consecutive year. It also invests in small nuclear reactors and claims more than 52,000 electric vans.
Despite these efforts, “the deployment of AI infrastructure is currently accelerating faster than the electricity grid is decarbonizing”, recognizes Kate Brandt, director of sustainable development at Google, cited in the group’s annual environmental report.
On June 23, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on AI bosses to “tell the whole truth” about the ecological cost of data centers. He launched an initiative that asks them to publish their footprint (carbon, water, land) then switch to renewables by the end of the decade.
