Google's carbon emissions are higher than ever due to energy demands of AI, tech giant admits

Google is pumping out more greenhouse gas than ever before – with its CO2 emissions surging by 48 per cent in the past five years. Google's latest environmental report shows that its greenhouse gas emissions were 13 per cent higher in 2023 than 2022 – producing the equivalent of 14.3 million tonnes of CO2. Google's latest environmental report shows that its greenhouse gas emissions were 13 per cent higher in 2023 than 2022 – producing the equivalent of 14.3 million tonnes of CO2 AI – which uses a lot of computing power and in turn electricity – is pushing up the firm's energy use and will make cutting emissions 'challenging', the company said. Google is pushing AI on its smartphones and search tools including Gemini, its version of OpenAI's ChatGPT Google is not the only tech firm facing the challenge of feeding power-hungry AI data centers, while trying to curb creation of climate-changing greenhouse gas. Microsoft said in its recent sustainability report that its greenhouse gas emissions last year were up 29 percent from 2020 as it continues 'to invest in the infrastructure needed to advance new technologies.'