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AI IPO candidates face climate disclosure gap as data center demand grows
California’s SB253, which starts in November, will require qualifying companies to report Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, including activity outside the state.
US artificial intelligence startups have scaled into near-trillion-dollar valuations, and as Anthropic and OpenAI prepare for initial public offerings, one issue stands out: they have not disclosed greenhouse gas emissions, made net-zero pledges, or published sustainability reports, according to Insurance Journal.
The outlet contrasts that gap with fossil-fuel firms and large Big Tech companies that already produce sustainability reporting, including emissions reporting that has risen alongside the data-center boom.
Insurance Journal also cites research from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project warning that new US gas plants for data centers could soon produce climate pollution on a scale comparable to the entire country of Australia, while noting that precise emissions numbers for the AI sector are not yet available.
Later this year, California’s SB253 begins to take effect in November, requiring companies with more than $1 billion in revenue doing business in the state to report Scope 1 and 2 emissions tied to operations and energy usage, and Anthropic is working with carbon accounting and emissions disclosure platform Watershed to measure its footprint and comply, the report states.