AI's soaring energy use and e‑waste raise global sustainability concerns

A United Nations report warns that artificial‑intelligence (AI) systems are consuming an ever‑growing share of the planet’s finite resources. Data centres powering AI applications used an estimated 448 terawatt‑hours of electricity in 2025 and could generate up to 2.5 million tonnes of electronic waste each year by 2030 – a volume comparable to the annual disposal of nearly 250 Eiffel Towers. The report notes that 90 percent of the world’s AI‑specialised cloud capacity is concentrated in the United States and China.

A separate study by NGOs including AlgorithmWatch and Beyond Fossil Fuels challenges the industry’s climate‑benefit claims. Analyzing 154 publicly promoted statements, the researchers found that only 26 percent were backed by peer‑reviewed evidence, while many offered no data at all. They label the practice of overstating AI’s environmental upside as "greenwashing." As Julian Bothe of AlgorithmWatch put it, "the large language‑ and image‑generating models like ChatGPT … emit CO₂ on the scale of whole countries but offer no demonstrable environmental benefit."

Both documents call for stronger scrutiny of AI’s resource footprint and more transparent reporting on its ecological impacts.