Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and data centres led to a spike in electricity demand between 2020 and 2023.The United Nations’ digital agency says that operational carbon emissions for the world’s top tech companies rose an average of 150 percent between 2020 and 2023 as investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres drove up global electricity demand.
Operational emissions for Amazon grew 182 percent in 2023 against 2020 levels, while emissions for Microsoft grew 155 percent, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta grew 145 percent, and Google parent company Alphabet grew 138 percent over the same period, according to the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The figures include the emissions directly created by the companies’ operations as well as those from purchased energy consumption. They were included in a new report from ITU assessing the greenhouse gas emissions of the world’s top 200 digital companies between 2020 and 2023.
The UN agency linked the sharp uptick to recent breakthroughs in AI and the demand for digital services like cloud computing.
“Advances in digital innovation – especially AI – are driving up energy consumption and global emissions,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who heads the ITU. Advertisement
While these innovations mark dramatic technological breakthroughs, left unchecked, emissions from top-emitting AI systems could soon hit 102.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, the agency said.
“Currently, there are no standards or legislative requirements for compa …
