Google is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the climate crisis while grappling with the energy and water consumption of AI services. The company began developing an AI-powered recommendation system to enhance the energy efficiency of its data centers seven years ago. Their latest annual environmental report showcases a range of climate action tools that utilize AI, from predicting floods and wildfires to calculating transportation emissions and detecting changes in biodiversity. Google aims to optimize its operations, reduce energy use, and decrease emissions from AI computing in their data centers. Efforts to minimize the environmental impact of AI models are also acknowledged in the report. Google has credited AI for aiding in sustainability achievements, significantly reducing energy requirements and emissions associated with training AI models. However, the company faces challenges related to increasing water consumption due to the expansion of data centers supporting AI technologies. Despite committing to replenish 120% of freshwater by 2030, Google has only managed to replenish 6% of its consumption so far. Nevertheless, Google is devoting a significant portion of its AI capacity to climate-centric services.

For instance, the Nest Renew service uses machine learning to prioritize clean energy consumption, resulting in substantial energy savings. Active Assist, part of the Carbon Sense Suite, identifies unnecessary energy use and helps reduce carbon emissions in companies' IT infrastructure. Google also offers various resources, such as the Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer and Tree Canopy Insights, to provide climate-related information and visualize environmental data. In addition, Google Maps offers eco-friendly routing options that minimize fuel or battery usage. The company is piloting the Green Light project to optimize traffic light changes and reduce emissions. Google's Flood Hub platform offers advanced flood forecasts across multiple countries, while its Search and Maps services leverage satellite imagery and AI analysis to provide data on wildfires. Google applies AI internally to optimize sustainability efforts, including managing cloud computing operations for reduced carbon intensity. The company's carbon footprint reduced by 76% since 2011, with emissions related to electricity dropping by 69% in 2022. Google acknowledges the impact of AI in these sustainable achievements but continues to work on refining its accounting methodology for carbon emissions.