# Are hyperscalers backing out of Net Zero?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-itpro-podcast-1191840/are-hyperscalers-backing-out-of-net-zero
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-itpro-podcast-1191840/are-hyperscalers-backing-out-of-net-zero.md
Podcast: [The ITPro Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-itpro-podcast-1191840)
Published: 2026-01-23T09:23:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.itpro.com/the-it-pro-podcast
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/cebf8e71-6b0d-4c06-b76a-0db76a378b93.mp3?aw_0_1st.showid=f3283fca-ed34-4271-8f7c-301f5c25540b&aw_0_1st.episodeid=cebf8e71-6b0d-4c06-b76a-0db76a378b93
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-itpro-podcast-1191840/episodes/are-hyperscalers-backing-out-of-net-zero
Duration seconds: 1959

## Resource

The environmental impact of AI is a growing area of study and one that businesses must begin to seriously consider. When you power a data center with coal, it’s obvious that it’s having a detrimental impact on the environment. But is a ‘green’ data center really green? And to what extent might the benefits of AI outweigh potential environmental negatives? In this episode, Jane and Rory discuss the shifting sustainability targets of the world’s public cloud giants, as caused by AI, and what they’re doing to get back on track. Read more: Microsoft Environmental Sustainability Report 2025 Amazon 2024 Sustainability Report Google 2025 Environmental Report Google emissions have surged 51% in five years – but it’s making solid progress in data center efficiency Data center carbon emissions are set to skyrocket by 2030, with hyperscalers producing 2.5 billion tons of carbon Small businesses are ‘flying blind’ on carbon emissions and struggling to meet sustainability goals – and the blame lies with big tech vendors Big tech’s solution for AI-related carbon emissions could be more AI Microsoft wants to drastically cut carbon emissions, so it’s building data centers with wood Can small modular reactors meet data center power demand? Google just confirmed the location of its first small modular reactor Hyperscalers go nuclear Gas-powered data centers: what's behind the boom? Could all data centers go solar? TPUs: Google's home advantage What is a tensor processing unit (TPU)? AI’s thirsty secret

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-itpro-podcast-1191840/episodes/are-hyperscalers-backing-out-of-net-zero/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-itpro-podcast-1191840/are-hyperscalers-backing-out-of-net-zero.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.