PC Mag noticed in Microsoft's 2024 Sustainability Report that their CO2 emissions rose by 29% and water usage went up by 23% compared to 12 months ago - both bad things to be doing during a climate crisis and bucks the trend of other megatech companies trying their hardest to greenwash (*cough* Apple *cough*) the impacts of their operations on the environment. The reason Microsoft gives for the huge increase is "new technologies, including generative AI" and the Economist notes that the bulk of the increase is from "indirect (Scope 3) emissions last year from building more data centres (including the carbon found in construction materials) as well as from semiconductors, servers and racks", not so much the computers running the AI models themselves. Is all this consumption for AI really worth it though?
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