Microsoft's carbon emissions up nearly 30% thanks to AI

LLMs have a dirty secret. They’re thirsty: a single ChatGPT conversation uses about half a liter of water 💧 Microsoft’s 2024 Environmental Sustainability Report reveals a similar picture. The company’s C02 emissions are up by 29.1% since 2020, mainly due to the construction and provisioning of more data centers to meet customer demand for cloud services. Which makes Microsoft's goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030 an ever-greater challenge.

More likely than not, your own company is busy adopting AI technologies to drive innovation and enhance customer experiences. And that means grappling with associated environmental implications, too.

🔴 Risk assessment: With leaders fearing they'll be outpaced by competitors in the race to deploy, gen AI is pushing sustainability down corporate priority lists. How will you stay vigilant? For starters, track the energy consumption of your brand's AI integrations and keep it in line with your ESG goals.

🟢 Opportunity: As concern about greenwashing reaches new heights, AI's ability to analyze large datasets promises to open up new routes to accountability, particularly within sustainability reporting. Use that capacity to your advantage, or face data-driven condemnation.