UN Says Tech Giants’ Carbon Emissions Rose 150% In Last 3 Years Amid AI Boom

The United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU) published a report on Thursday revealing that carbon emissions from leading AI companies rose on average by 150% between 2020 and 2023. The document mentions companies such as Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, focusing on the electricity needs for their data centers.

According to the report, titled Greening Digital Companies 2025: Monitoring emissions and climate commitments, the use of AI technologies has contributed to an increase in both direct and indirect global emissions.

“The digital companies assessed in this year’s report consumed an estimated 581 TWh of electricity (2.1% of global demand), with AI being one probable driver of this growth,” states the document.  And 10 tech companies were responsible for 50% of those emissions.

ITU tracked 200 tech companies using publicly available reports. While many of these companies have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions—as part of the net-zero emissions initiatives—, others have raised concerns. Amazon’s operational emissions grew 182% in 2023 compared to 2020, while Microsoft’s rose by 155%, Meta’s by 145%, and Alphabet’s by 138%.

“Currently, there are no standards or legislative requirements for companies to disclose their AI emissions or energy consumption, which makes understanding the impact of AI on company-level energy use less straightforward,” states the report. “However, data from company reports show an increasing trend in operational emissions for companies with a high level of AI adoption.”

Out of the 200 companies analysed, 164 provided data. The 10 companies generating the highest energy demand were: China Mobile, Amazon, Samsung Electronics, China Telecom, China Unicom, Alphabet, Microsoft, TSMC, SK Hynix, and Meta.

The study noted that the combined annual carbon footprint of these tech companies is equivalent to the total yearly emissions of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile combined.

The UN agency emphasized that companies should disclose more comprehensive data and publish dedicated climate reports.

A recent report shared by Nature also noted how AI has been rapidly increasing energy demands—in Ireland, data centers consume 20% of the national electricity— and highlighted the lack of data on energy consumption.