Big Tech accused of greenwashing AI by overstating climate benefits, report says

Tech giants are misleading the public by conflating traditional artificial intelligence with energy-intensive generative AI to claim the technology can help solve the climate crisis, according to a new report.

An analysis of 154 industry claims found that most purported climate benefits refer to machine learning rather than the power-hungry chatbots and image generators currently driving the AI boom. The study, commissioned by non-profit groups, found no "significant, verifiable, and substantial" evidence that tools such as Google’s Gemini or Microsoft’s Copilot have led to emission cuts.

Report author Ketan Joshi described the industry’s tactics as "misdirection," comparing the strategy to fossil fuel companies highlighting small-scale solar investments. The analysis reviewed claims primarily from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Google, and Microsoft, concluding that many assertions lacked concrete evidence.

The findings come as electricity consumption at data centers is projected to surge. While Microsoft declined to comment on the report, Google defended its methodology and approach to the technology.

The findings of this report transcend mere public relations friction, exposing a fundamental structural tension: the breakneck expansion of the high-tech sector is now in direct collision with global climate mandates. The charge of "greenwashing" leveled here is not a rhetorical flourish; it is a data-backed indictment of a deliberate lack of transparency regarding the vast energy delta between predictive AI and its far more resource-heavy counterpart, generative AI.

For Wall Street, this shift introduces a material ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) risk. The meteoric rise in tech valuations—predicated on the assumption of unconstrained growth—is facing a new reality where institutional investors and regulators demand granular carbon footprint disclosures. We expect policymakers, particularly in the European Union, to weaponize these findings to mandate stricter energy-efficiency benchmarks for data center infrastructure.

The strategic ramifications for Hanoi are equally acute. As Vietnam seeks to position itself as a regional digital hub and court significant foreign direct investment (FDI) in data centers, it faces a tightening bottleneck between energy supply and sustainability commitments. Should "Green AI" emerge as the global regulatory standard, Vietnam must accelerate its grid modernization and policy alignment. Failure to do so risks leaving the country sidelined or, conversely, transforming it into a haven for energy-inefficient legacy technologies that are increasingly marginalized in developed markets.