Big Tech Tries To Greenwash AI, Fails - 26% Of Climate Claims Cite Actual Research; 36% Cite No Evidence Whatsoever
The big tech industry’s claims about the climate benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) are largely unproven and unsubstantiated, according to a new report from a coalition of climate advocacy and accountability groups. The report found that only 26 percent of the climate claims made by big tech companies cited published academic research, with 36 percent citing no evidence whatsoever.
The analysis is the first of its kind to assess climate claims from major AI developers like Google and Microsoft, as well as from independent institutions like the International Energy Agency (IEA). The prevailing narrative in the tech industry has been that the benefits of AI will more than offset the massive increase in emissions expected from new data centres.
Many of the claims made by big tech conflate the climate benefits of ‘traditional’ AI – machine learning tools designed to streamline specific tasks, like email spam filters, which have relatively low carbon emissions – and ‘generative’ AI chatbots. The latter – including platforms such as ChatGPT – are a huge driver of increased emissions, mainly through the construction and operation of new fossil fuel-powered data centres, which deliver the massive computing capacity needed to service generative AI. A query in ChatGPT requires about 10 times the computing power of a standard Google search.
Traditional AI can help to combat climate change by processing vast, complex datasets to identify patterns and optimise systems. However, the report concluded that: “At no point did this search or analysis uncover examples in which generative systems were leading to a material, verifiable and substantial level of emissions reductions.” “By muddling these two types of AI into one umbrella term, purported climate solutions are coupled to extreme pollution and presented as a package deal,” the report stated.
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https://www.desmog.com/2026/02/17/big-tech-accused-of-ai-greenwashing/
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