Big Tech Turns to Fossil Fuels for AI Growth

Big Tech’s artificial intelligence race is putting new pressure on its climate promises. After years of presenting themselves as leaders in sustainability, companies including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are facing a harder reality: the infrastructure required to power AI is driving emissions higher.

Google and Amazon’s latest sustainability reports show the scale of the challenge. Google’s carbon emissions rose 25 percent year-on-year, while Amazon’s increased 16 percent. Both companies pointed to the expanding demands of data centres, including construction, electricity use and wider operational growth. Microsoft and Meta have faced similar pressures, with AI infrastructure now central to their growth strategies.

The tension is commercial as much as environmental. Investors expect the largest technology companies to lead the AI race, but that leadership depends on vast computing capacity. Data centres need enormous amounts of electricity and water, and the speed of AI expansion has made it difficult for renewable energy commitments to keep pace. As a result, companies that once tied their reputations to net-zero pledges are now relying more heavily on fossil-fuel-backed power.

This shift complicates the credibility of corporate climate targets. Google has already softened some of its language around 2030 goals, while emissions across the sector continue to rise. The issue is no longer whether AI has an environmental cost, but whether technology companies can grow their AI businesses without making their climate promises look increasingly unrealistic.

The pressure is unlikely to ease soon. New gas-fired power plants are being planned to serve data centres across the US, raising concerns that AI’s energy demand could lock in years of additional emissions. Big Tech still says it remains committed to sustainability, but its next climate reports will be judged against a simple measure: whether AI growth continues to outpace the clean energy needed to support it.