Google and Amazon to be warned about the growth in the carbon footprint of AI

• TechCrunch reports that, with Google and Amazon, the growth in the carbon footprint of AI is driven by increased electricity use.
• According to TechCrunch, Google’s emissions are linked to Scope 3 categories, while Amazon’s are driven by capital goods used in its own energy production.
• Ars Technica reports that Google’s AI in 2025 saw a 37% increase in electricity use, and that, for that reason, the company’s emissions from AI decreased by 2%.

For more on the warning, see TechCrunch and Ars Technica.

Google and Amazon have published statements about the factors behind the growth in their AI energy consumption. The materials from TechCrunch claim that the companies’ electricity use is likely to be linked to an increase in the electricity used by their AI infrastructure, which is due to the expansion of their AI capabilities. The material also notes that the companies do not provide clear details about the specific drivers of their electricity use.

Meanwhile, according to TechCrunch, Google’s emissions from 25% of the total are linked to the Scope 3 categories, while Amazon’s — to 16%. The material also notes that the companies do not specify which Scope 3 categories are responsible for the overall energy consumption.

In its report, TechCrunch attributes the increase in emissions to Scope 3 categories for AI. For Google, emissions from Scope 3 are 2.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; the authors of the material say that this figure is based on data from 2019, when Google’s emissions were already higher than the current level.

TechCrunch also notes that Amazon’s Scope 3 emissions are driven by capital goods used in its own energy production, and that these emissions may be linked to data-center investments. The material from Amazon states that, for 2025, the company’s capital goods for data centers will account for 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in Q4.

Meanwhile, Ars Technica reports that Google said its 37% increase in 2025 electricity use is the biggest increase among the companies. The materials also claim that Google attributes this to the expansion of data centers for producing services, including those from Google Cloud and YouTube.

Ars Technica also adds that Google said the consumption of electricity in data centers in 2025 — 42 million megawatt-hours of electricity — was higher than in 2024, when it was 30.6 million megawatt-hours. In addition, according to Ars Technica, Google said the change in its AI emissions was 2% over the same period.

The material from Ars Technica also notes that Google’s increase in electricity use is due to the expansion of its data-center infrastructure for AI. It also notes that the electricity used by Google’s AI is 25% higher than the electricity used by its data centers, which, according to Google, is due to the increased electricity demand from energy sources used in its data centers.

Tags: Energy/Technology/AI/Ecology