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AI data center emissions expose the climate cost of artificial intelligence
Recent data on AI data center emissions show that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is making it increasingly difficult for major technology companies to stay on track with their climate goals. Amazon’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 16% last year, while Google’s rose by 18%. For Google, it marks the largest annual increase ever recorded, driven largely by the manufacturing of AI hardware, including chips and servers.
Technology companies have published sustainability reports for years, Google has done so since 2016. With the rise of artificial intelligence, however, these annual reports have become a benchmark for measuring whether climate ambitions can keep pace with AI-driven growth. Google’s data centers, for example, continue to become more energy efficient, but those gains are no longer enough to offset the rapid expansion of the infrastructure required to support AI.
Amazon’s environmental footprint extends well beyond its data centers because of its logistics and retail operations. Any comparison between the two companies therefore requires acknowledging their different business models. Even so, their latest sustainability reports highlight the growing climate implications of the global AI race. Rising electricity demand and water consumption from data centers have also intensified public scrutiny.
The expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure has both direct and indirect effects on air quality. As a result, AI data center emissions are typically assessed across three key factors: electricity consumption, direct emissions from backup generators, and indirect emissions generated throughout the technology supply chain.
Amazon’s AI expansion pushes emissions higher
Amazon says it added more global data center capacity than any other company during 2025, while electricity demand increased by 34%. The company maintains that it continues to improve operational efficiency despite this rapid growth.
Last year, Amazon’s total greenhouse gas emissions reached 80.85 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 16% increase compared with 2024.
The company also reported a 3% increase in carbon intensity compared with 2024. However, its overall carbon intensity has declined by 38% since 2019. Emissions per unit shipped fell by 7% year over year and by 39% compared with 2019. Amazon also said it has deployed more than 52,700 electric delivery vans, bringing it nearly halfway toward its goal of operating 100,000 electric vans by 2030.
Google’s AI boom fuels higher emissions and electricity demand
Google reported that total greenhouse gas emissions increased by 18% in 2025 compared with the previous year, driven primarily by the unprecedented expansion of artificial intelligence. The company argues that investments in efficiency and clean energy continue to prevent substantial additional emissions, even as electricity demand rose by 37% in 2025. That follows a 27% increase recorded in 2024. Overall, Google’s electricity demand in 2025 was 3.5 times higher than in 2019.
Emissions associated with building Google’s data center infrastructure reached approximately 2.3 million metric tons of CO₂, accounting for 20% of its ambition-based Scope 3 emissions.
Google estimates that its climate initiatives helped avoid more than 58 million metric tons of CO₂ in 2025. Without those measures, the company’s carbon footprint would have been five times larger, according to its 2026 sustainability report.
The company also announced a record 12 gigawatts of new clean energy procurement agreements. Meanwhile, emissions linked to electricity consumption declined by 3% compared with 2024, following a 12% reduction recorded the previous year.