Amazon and Google Report 2025 Emissions Spike Amid AI Infrastructure Buildout

Amazon's carbon footprint rose approximately 16% year over year in 2025, reaching about 81 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. [3] Google reported an 18% jump in greenhouse gas emissions in 2025, which is the largest annual increase the company has published to date. [1][3] Amazon's current emissions total is now 58% above its 2019 baseline. [3]

On the Amazon side, emissions from purchased electricity rose 34% in 2025, which the company connects to data center growth and fuel used by its delivery operations. [3] Google points to the manufacturing of AI hardware, including chips and servers, in addition to the electricity consumed by data centers. [3] Amazon pledged in 2019 to reach net zero by 2040, while Google maintains a 2030 net-zero date. [3] Meanwhile, Meta is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that will sell access to AI computing power and models. [1]

Cloud infrastructure providers are balancing aggressive AI buildouts with existing environmental targets. As Amazon and Google report rising emissions tied to data center and hardware growth, Meta plans to enter the cloud infrastructure market to sell AI compute access. What the sources don't address: How Meta's entry into the AI compute market will impact the broader industry's carbon footprint.