As Google continues to advance in the field of artificial intelligence, its carbon emissions have risen sharply again. the company2025 Sustainability Reportstressed that its "ambition-based emissions" increased by 11% last year to 11.5 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution, a 51% increase from 2019.
That puts Google further away from its goal of halving global warming pollution by 2030, based on a 2019 baseline. But Google's so-called "target-based" emissions exclude certain categories of supply chain pollution that it considers uncontrolled or "irrelevant" to the core business of Google parent Alphabet. This includes certain purchased goods and services and food items.
Google data center in Mayes County, Oklahoma
A table in the report's appendix shows that its total CO2 emissions actually amounted to 15,185,200 metric tons. This is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions from nearly 40 gas-fired power plants. Google's report also highlights that while its energy consumption continues to rise due to the impact of artificial intelligence, its data center carbon emissions have been reduced by 12%. Despite the decrease, data center carbon emissions are still much higher compared to 2019.
In its report, Google cited several factors beyond its "direct control" that make it more difficult to achieve its climate goals. These include "rapid advances in artificial intelligence," which could make the company's "future energy demand and emissions trajectories more difficult to predict." The report also noted changes in climate and energy-related policies, "slower than expected" deployment of carbon-free energy technologies, and a lack of carbon-free energy solutions in some markets. “These external factors may impact the cost, feasibility, and timeline of our progress — and addressing them requires flexibility,” Google wrote.
Artificial intelligence is driving up energy usage at Microsoft and other companies like Meta, with the technology expected to consume more electricity than Bitcoin by the end of the year. While AI companies like DeepSeek are working to create more energy-efficient models, that prospect hasn't stopped companies like Meta from building a massive natural gas-powered data center in Louisiana. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order promoting the use of coal to power artificial intelligence data centers.