Businesses need to consider the social and environmental impacts of their AI deployment to maintain customer and public trust, according to research from One New Zealand. The company’s AI Trust Report 2026 on sustainability released this week and showed 45 per cent of New Zealanders are concerned about the environmental impacts of businesses using AI, rising to 63 per cent among 18 to 24-year-olds. The findings suggest sustainability is emerging alongside privacy and transparency as important factors shaping trust in AI, One NZ said.