Google, the search engine giant, in its latest environment report has admitted its sins of carbon emissions. The 2024 Environmental Report states that Google’s net greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were a whopping 48% higher than in 2019. And the culprit is *drum rolls* the AI race that has escalated ever since Sam Altman-led OpenAI dropped ChatGPT for the lay. Consumerism trumped quiet R&D at the backend, forcing tech giants including Microsoft, Meta, and others to launch their versions of AI deliverables for the masses. Google, a pioneering company on the front, couldn’t afford to stay behind, especially when its biggest asset was at stake. Under Sundar Pichai’s leadership, the company did a botched launch of Google Bard and then rebranded it to Gemini AI. The impact of AI on its several data centers across the world is massive, despite relying on carbon-free energy sources. In 2022, the company stated in its blog about its ‘climate-conscious data center cooling’ iterating its goal of operating 24/7 on carbon-free energy by 2030. However, the recent environmental report suggests it would be a tad bit difficult even as the company integrates AI into its products.
Google’s carbon emissions are higher than ever due to energy demands of AI, tech giant admits https://t.co/Cbr89uJAkx pic.twitter.com/R3qan8wJMi— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 3, 2024
Google data centre expansion leads to surge in carbon emissions https://t.co/akT6KMSitC via @IrishTimesBiz— Irish Times Business (@IrishTimesBiz) July 3, 2024
Google reports a nearly 50% surge in its carbon emissions compared to 2019 in its 2024 environmental report pic.twitter.com/j0xVugflpu— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) July 3, 2024
Rather than declining, Google’s emissions grew 13% in 2023 over the year before. Compared to its baseline year of 2019, emissions have soared 48%. https://t.co/O9Nvr8z4St— Samuel Oakford (@samueloakford) July 3, 2024
Back in 2021, Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, downplayed the impact of data centers running AI and ML programs, while, “all for reducing carbon emissions.” He stated that these data centers only consume about 2% of the world’s net electricity production. He rallied for home company Meta and Google being already carbon neutral. With massive MLM machinery working behind cryptos and the heated up AI race, it’s not 2021 anymore. The greenhouse emissions from crypto mining and AI development is a pressing problem in 2024 (and beyond). But who cares?
I’m all for reducing carbon emissions.
But I don’t see the point of this petition given that:
1. all the data centers in the world consume 1 to 2% of the world electricity production.
2. ML is tiny portion of that
3. Large operators like FB and Google are already carbon neutral— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) April 26, 2021
Meanwhile
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