How bad are AI data centres' carbon footprint?

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illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on Euronews or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: A new study estimates that the carbon footprint of AI systems in 2025 could match the emissions of a small European country or New York City
• Their water use could rival the global bottled water industry

🔭 The context: As AI demand grows, so does the need for data centres that consume vast amounts of electricity and water
• Yet tech companies rarely disclose full environmental metrics, leaving a gap in transparency
• The study predicts AI systems in data centres will produce between 32.6 million and 79.7 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2025, comparable to emissions from New York City or Norway

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The environmental impact og AI, especially in terms of carbon emissions and water usage, could significantly exacerbate global climate challenges
• The call for greater transparency and regulation in tech industries grows louder

⏭️ What’s next: Researchers urge tech companies to improve their sustainability reports and disclose specific metrics related to AI’s energy consumption and water usage, to better understand and mitigate the environmental impacts of these technologies

💬 One quote: "The environmental impact of data centres is growing rapidly, the urgency for transparency in the tech sector is also increasing," said the study's author

📈 One stat: Europe’s power grids, while cleaner than the global average, still face challenges as the demand for energy-intensive AI grows, with CO₂ emissions from the grid still around 174g CO₂/kWh

See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance — carbon credit purchases, total emissions, and climate targets of thousands of companies

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