AI-driven productivity gains enable more planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels than they avoid from renewables, a study has found. Photograph: Bipul Ahmed/NurPhoto/ShutterstockThe researchers found net emissions only fell in scenarios where AI did not increase productivity in the fossil fuel sector. “Fossil fuel applications are already happening at scale today – real contracts, real deployment, with evidence from industry operators and financial analysts,” she said. Ketan Joshi, an independent climate analyst who was not involved in the study, said the AI sector was “fundamentally hungry for fossil fuels” and that the impacts went well beyond data centres driving fossil fuel use. “Even within some parts of the climate movement, there is still a denial that an unchecked tech industry will inherently boost fossil fuels,” he said.