Many Big Tech Companies Produce More Carbon Emissions than What They Say In Reports

There has always been news about how there's excess carbon emissions from big tech companies. But now due to artificial intelligence, the carbon emissions have reached their all time high. Even though many companies tell the amount of carbon emission from their data centers, most of them do not tell the accurate amount. According to data, companies like Google, Meta and Microsoft have 7.62 times more carbon emissions than these companies tell the authorities.

The International Energy Agency says that many data centers were already taking 1 to 1.5% of the global electricity in 2022 but then ChatGPT got released and the need for electricity in data centers increased. AI takes more energy in data centers than other cloud applications. Goldman Sachs reports that an AI query takes 10 times more energy than a Google query and the need for power in data centers will grow 160% by 2030. Data centers are expected to emit 2.5 bn metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030.

All big 5 tech companies have announced to be carbon neutral. Amazon did so recently by saying that it became carbon neutral 7 years prior to when it was expected. Amazon has implemented a gross carbon emission cut of 3%. But it is all due to creative accounting because Amazon is still expanding its fossil fuel use in data centers or in its diesel trucks.

Most companies use renewable energy certificates or Recs to show that they are using renewable energy sources but most of the time, they do not consume the energy or only use it on one site of production. Recs show what are the market based emissions but when Recs are offsite, we get location based emissions. This is actual emission generated in a specific area. The location based emissions of big five tech companies is concerning. If we take the stats of 2022 and put all the companies as one country, it will be the 23rd highest emitter in the world.

Google and Microsoft say that they are working to achieve the goal of making all their data centers on renewable energy sources and to match market based emissions and location based emissions. Google has already stopped using its Rec certificate and will totally emit their non-location specific Recs by 2030. GHG Protocol says that no company should hide their carbon emissions under any circumstances.

The carbon emissions that come from in-house data centers are called Scope 2 which is concerned with mainly electricity. Most data centers, except Amazon, also make up for the majority of Scope 2. Amazon has most carbon emissions from warehouses and e-commerce logistics. 100% of Meta’s centers are responsible for Scope 2 emissions with 97.4% location based emissions. The second biggest Scope 2 and location based emissions are from Microsoft. Meta’s carbon emissions are 19,000 times higher than 2022 while Microsoft’s emissions are 22 times higher than 2022 now.

Many big tech companies also rent third-party data centers which represent 37% of the worldwide data center capacity. All the emissions from third-party data centers fall under scope 3 emissions which include emissions from in-house data center constructions and electricity related emissions. Google and Microsoft have both blamed AI for their emissions while Apple is planning to work hard to reduce its carbon emissions as much as possible.

Image: DIW-AIgen

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Survey Shows the Thoughts of Americans on Apple and Latest iPhone Models

Wallethub conducted a survey in the USA to find out what people think of the new iPhone release. Whenever Apple releases a new iPhone model, everyone wants to get their hands on the new model as soon as possible. But the new survey shows that 63% of Americans are not going to buy the new iPhone model because of inflation. New iPhone model can cost up to $1,100 and in this inflation, Americans are avoiding buying the new model.

Many Americans also think that Apple mobiles are overpriced and take extra charges from consumers. If Apple wants more customers, it needs to lower the prices of its iPhones. But amongst Americans who are resisting to buy the new iPhone model, there are also Americans who are eager to buy the new model. 2 in 5 Americans say they do not mind going into debt if it means they can buy the latest iPhone model.

The survey also asked the American respondents what they think when they see someone with the latest iPhone model. 30% say that they think a person is rich if he has the latest iPhone model, while 27% think that it is wasteful to spend money on every latest iPhone model. 42% of the respondents said that they buy the latest iPhone as it is important for keeping appearances. 65% also said that they think Apple is a monopoly and the government should take actions against them.

Read next: Snapchat+ is Growing in Revenue After Seeing Some Decline for Few Months
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Snapchat+ is Growing in Revenue After Seeing Some Decline for Few Months

When Snapchat+ got released, everyone thought that it isn't going to work out and will not grow as other apps. The App Intelligence by App Figures show that Snapchat+ surpassed half a billion dollars in the last month. This means a lot of beta testers have used the app and it is doing good.

Snapchat+ saw good opening months but then its growth declined soon. The reason why Snapchat+ is rising again is because Snapchat has added some good features which are being liked by people. Some of these features include priority replies and story boosts. Both of the features are being used by many people because nowadays people do not only need followers on social media, they need views too.

Estimates show that Snapchat+ has earned $581 millions in revenue since its release. The revenue of Snapchat+ grew 9% in August and users spent more than $49 million on the app. By March 2025, Snapchat+ is expected to hit $1 billion in revenue. Snapchat+ is earning the biggest revenue in the USA, followed by UK, France, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

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• Is Your Privacy at Risk? See Which Generations Are Blindly Accepting Cookies! 

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Is Your Privacy at Risk? See Which Generations Are Blindly Accepting Cookies!

Emarketer conducted a survey to find out how different generations think about website cookies and whether they accept them or not. Gen-Z, Millennials, Gen-X and Baby Boomers were surveyed in July 2024 for this purpose. According to the survey, 57.6% of the Gen-Z always or often accept cookies while 53.4% millennials do so. On the other hand, 46.8% of the Gen-X and 36.0% of the Baby Boomers often or always accept cookies.

The survey, which was based on US consumers, also found out that 17.0% of the US consumers overall always accept cookies. It is best if marketers aim for non-cookie targeting and measurement as 9 out of 10 browsers in the US are going to get rid of cookies soon. But Google has decided to keep third-party cookies on Chrome.

• Also read: Are Your Favorite Apps Secretly Spying on You Through Dangerous Permissions?

50.6% of US consumers accept cookies without understanding what they are and how they can be used. This shows lack of knowledge regarding privacy concerns among consumers. Only 9.9% consumers said that they understand what accepting cookies on a website means. The lack of understanding about cookies is common among Baby Boomers and Gen-X. Marketers should work on designing age-specific cookie consent experiences.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

From Code to Crisis: The Startling Energy Consumption of Top Tech Giants Revealed!

Many big tech companies are consuming more electricity than countries with millions of people because of AI. The reports from these tech companies and US Energy Information Administration were used to compare Meta, Google, Microsoft and Apple’s energy consumptions in 2023 to electricity consumptions of some specific countries.

According to the data Microsoft and Google are using more electricity than countries like Ghana with a population of 34 million and Jordan with population of 11 million. The total electricity consumption of Microsoft and Google is 24 TWh while Ghana and Jordan use 19 TWh and 20 TWh electricity respectively. The only countries above Microsoft and Google in terms of electricity usage are Nigeria, Ireland and Serbia.

This shows that these big tech companies are using enormous amounts of electricity for their data centers. 2024 Environment Report indicates that use of electricity at Google’s data centers has grown 17% in 2023. Google’s data centers used 10% of the overall electricity of all data centers in the world in 2023.

AI training is also taking up a lot more electricity usage. Microsoft’s electricity usage jumped to 24 TWh in 2023 from 11 TWh in 2020. Similarly, Google’s electricity consumption went from 11 TWh in 2018 to 24 TWh in 2023. Tech companies who took the generative AI step a little later (Meta and Apple) than other companies are not using as much energy as Microsoft and Google, but Meta seems to be going up in the list.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

TikTok Tops August Revenue Charts While Instagram Bucks Downward Trend in Downloads

August 2024 was another great month for social media platforms but the rankings are starting to feel repetitive.

App giants are raking in a huge chunk of revenue as per stats taken from App Figures. They did cement their standing position at the top of the list and we’ve got all the details for our readers below.

Similar to July, there is certainly something interesting taking place in the top 10 list. When we combine everything together, the overall revenue hit $880 million. This means last month, we got closer to the target of hitting $1 billion but just how close is a question worth investigating.

There’s no surprise here. The leading TikTok platform was again the world’s highest-earning platform last month. It managed to rake in a whopping $240 million combined revenue for ByteDance. This is more than $19 million from what was seen last month and a whopping 9% rise MoM from the past.

Video search engine YouTube was steady with the second position, adding another striking $7 million last month. Meanwhile, the top five were completed by Disney+, Tinder, and the Max app. Here is where revenues barely altered from what was seen in July.

In August, Peacock managed to go beyond Hulu and we’ve got the grand Paris Olympics to thank for this. It snagged position number nine and then in August, it hit position number 8, which added another $4 million.

Interestingly, Duolingo's popular language learning app is on the list once more. We last saw it make the rankings in April but to enter, it pushed Tencent Video out. But how close did these platforms get to the $1 billion mark?

The top 10 apps managed to bring in $917 million last month. And if things continue at this rate, we don’t see why they cannot break the $1 billion mark by the end of 2024.

Moving on to the most downloaded apps for August 2024, it wouldn’t be wrong to deem this as a slipping and sliding show. Downloads for apps are declining with time so that is why experts took the rankings as a mere surprise.

The top five most downloaded platforms didn’t alter from what was seen in July. However, things got interesting when you looked at matters more closely than the real installation figures.

Instagram continued to hold on to position number one and these figures grew by more than three million installations over July. They bucked the continuous downward trend while in second place, we saw TikTok take a major fall of two million when compared to July of this year.

In position four it was WhatsApp which did take a small hit, adding close to four million downloads from what was witnessed in July. Meanwhile, Facebook sat at number three and remained at 43 million installs. In position five it was Temu who held a steady rank but dropped close to two million from July’s 37 million total.

When you look at the other complete list, minor shifts were similarly noted. Threads moved up to position number six and ChatGPT entered the list at position number nine as the AI keeps introducing new models.

As a whole, the top 10 apps list managed to bring in 353 million installations for the last month. This is one million more than what was witnessed in July. This is not a sign that the slump period is over just yet. The small dip taking place in June and July, followed up closely by a minor growth last month means things are moving in the right direction.

Read next: Where in the World is It Unsafe to Be a Woman?
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Where in the World is It Unsafe to Be a Woman?

GIWPS ranked the top ten worst countries for women using data from 2023 Women Peace and Security Index scores. In the index, countries were given scores out of 1.0 based on inclusion, justice and safety of women. Inclusion included education, cell phone use, employment, financial inclusion and parliamentary representation of women in the countries. Justice referred to access to justice, legal discrimination and maternal mortality ratio. Safety included community safety, violence against women, political violence and proximity to conflict.

According to the scores, Afghanistan was ranked the worst country for women with a 0.286 score. Followed by Afghanistan was Yemen and the Central African Republic with 0.287 and 0.387 scores respectively. Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Burundi were also ranked the worst countries for women.

The seventh worst country for women was the Syrian Arab Republic with 0.407 score and eighth was Eswatini with 0.415 score. Somalia and Iraq were ranked ninth and tenth worst countries for women. Overall, the status of women declined in 13 countries between 2017 to 2023. Somalia, Haiti and Eswatini saw the biggest declines. Low education rates, high maternal mortality rates and high intimate partner violence were some of the biggest factors that gave these countries the lowest scores.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World