Microsoft's AI Push Jeopardizes Climate Goals as Emissions Surge
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... The software giant's supply chain is responsible for the vast majority of emissions.

Microsoft made an ambitious pledge in 2020. Its goal is to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits by 2030, seeking to reverse its lifetime carbon emissions by 2050. But the software giant's carbon emissions jumped by 30% in 2023 compared to 2020, it said in its latest sustainability report, released on Wednesday.

The primary reason for this increase in emissions is the rapid construction of data centers, which require carbon-intensive building materials, as well as hardware components, Microsoft's report says.
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This news comes as Microsoft continues its push to be a global leader in AI -- an ambition that's put its climate goals in jeopardy. Data centers are critical infrastructure for running and supporting AI models such as large language models, the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, which are seeing surging adoption worldwide. Such AI-based services require more of the same power-hungry data centers built from carbon-intensive materials such as steel and concrete. ...