Google in danger of missing environmental goals due to AI

The Street

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why Google’s environmental goals are in danger.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gibbs reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:03Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:05It was an early close on Wall Street,

00:06with the trading floor staying dark Thursday

00:08for the 4th of July holiday.

00:10Ahead of that, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500

00:13set fresh all-time highs,

00:15despite signs of economic softness.

00:18The massive services sector shrank in June,

00:21its biggest slump in four years,

00:23according to data from the Institute for Supply Management.

00:26Private hiring slowed for the third straight month in June,

00:29according to ADP,

00:30and a separate report from the Labor Department showed

00:33it's taking longer for unemployed Americans

00:35to land a new gig.

00:37The stage is now set for the June jobs report,

00:40which will be released before markets reopen on Friday.

00:44In other news, Google is having trouble

00:46reaching its carbon neutrality targets,

00:48and it's pinning the blame

00:49on the rise of artificial intelligence.

00:52The massive computers behind AI suck up a lot of power,

00:56and that's causing a spike in Google's carbon footprint.

00:59Google revealed in its environmental report

01:02that its greenhouse gas emissions rose 13% in 2023

01:06compared to the prior year,

01:08and spiked 48% since 2019.

01:12Google's efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030

01:15are now in jeopardy.

01:17Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt said in the report,

01:20quote, we face significant challenges

01:23that we're actively working through,

01:25which she blamed on, quote,

01:26increased data center energy consumption

01:29and supply chain emissions.

01:31Alphabet-owned Google says it is making progress

01:34in using alternative energy sources in the U.S. and Europe,

01:37but finding clean energy in other parts of the world

01:40is proving to be difficult.

01:43That'll do it for your daily briefing

01:44from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:45I'm Conway Gittens with The Street.

Category

Transcript

Recommended