Google’s greenhouse gas emissions are soaring thanks to AI
CNN
As Google has rushed to incorporate artificial intelligence into its core products — with sometimes less-than-stellar results — a problem has been brewing behind the scenes: the systems needed to power its AI tools have vastly increased the company’s greenhouse gas emissions.
As Google has rushed to incorporate artificial intelligence into its core products — with sometimes less-than-stellar results — a problem has been brewing behind the scenes: the systems needed to power its AI tools have vastly increased the company’s greenhouse gas emissions. AI systems need lots of computers to make them work. The data centers needed to run them, essentially warehouses full of powerful computing equipment, suck up tons of energy to process data and manage the heat all of those computers produce. The end result has been that Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have soared 48% since 2019, according to the tech giant’s annual environment report. The tech giant blamed that growth mainly on “increased data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions.” Now, Google is calling its goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2030 “extremely ambitious,” and said the pledge is likely to be affected by “the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict.” In other words: a sustainability push by the company — which once included the slogan “don’t be evil” in its code of conduct — has gotten more complicated thanks to AI. Google, like other tech rivals, has gone all-in on investing in AI, which is widely seen as the next major tech revolution that’s poised to change how we live, work and consume information. The company has integrated its Gemini generative AI technology into some of its core products, including Search and Google Assistant, and CEO Sundar Pichai has called Google an “AI-first company.” But AI comes with a major downside: the power-hungry data centers that Google and other Big Tech rivals are currently spending tens of billions of dollars each quarter to expand in order to fuel their AI ambitions.
The lawsuit, set to be filed in federal court in Washington, DC, names the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, as defendants.
The “CBS Evening News” needs a new anchor — and soon.
President Donald Trump is pushing for an extension of soon-to-expire enhanced Obamacare subsidies – a key Democratic demand that Republicans fought fiercely and that was the basis for the longest-ever government shutdown.
The biggest event in New Zealand Thursday may have been the opening of a furniture store.
Even if you believe you haven’t yet been directly impacted by climate change, your wallet will feel its effects soon, according to a new study.
Small businesses are “starting to crack” amid a weakening economy, rising inflation and fickle consumers; and they drove job losses in the US private sector in November, new data showed Wednesday.
Prepare for automotive sticker shock next year – again.
Constellation Brands, the US owner of Modelo Especial and Corona, bet big on Latino customers for growth. But that strategy is unraveling under the Trump administration’s mass deportation push.
The European Union agreed Wednesday to phase out Russian natural gas imports by late 2027 as part of an effort to end the bloc’s decade-long dependency on Russian energy.
US wireless carrier AT&T said in a letter to the US telecoms regulator that it had committed to ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a move that comes as it seeks approval from the Trump administration to buy wireless spectrum assets.
Larry Summers has been banned for life from the American Economic Association, a professional organization for economists, with more than 17,000 members, over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The US labor market has weakened over the course of the year as hiring has stalled across many industries. The national unemployment rate has ratcheted higher in the process, hitting 4.4% in September.
Michael and Susan Dell are donating $6.25 billion to fund investment accounts for at least 25 million American children.