Big Tech Data Centre Boom Threatens Carbon Surge

Surging demand for AI training and inference is pushing technology groups to build vast data centres packed with power-hungry chips and cooling systems. The expansion is becoming a major test of corporate climate pledges and global emissions targets, particularly where electricity grids remain dependent on fossil fuels and additions of renewable generation and transmission capacity are failing to keep pace.

A Financial Times analysis found that 60 large data centres planned by Big Tech could generate annual carbon emissions equivalent to those of 27 coal-fired power plants or about 24 million cars. The estimates highlight the potential environmental cost of the AI infrastructure race, as companies secure unprecedented amounts of electricity and computing capacity while clean-energy supplies and grid upgrades lag behind projected demand.