Energy use of AI and data centres rivals most countries: UN report

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · Jun 04, 2026 · 1135 words · By Angela Symons

Corporate Transparency Environmental Sustainability of AI Individual User Responsibility

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What to know about Corporate Transparency

"That extra ‘please’ you put there can make a huge difference,” says one of the report's authors.

Claims checked 17

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left14%

Center72%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

"That extra ‘please’ you put there can make a huge difference,” says one of the report's authors.

Why it matters

The environmental footprint of data centres already rivals some of the world's largest countries, according to a United Nations University report released on 3 June.

Common ground

Their water use, energy use and pollution is predicted to double in just four years as use of artificial intelligence grows.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Corporate Transparency story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that A typical ChatGPT-style query is about 200 times more energy-intensive than the type of basic text classification used in an email spam filter?
How does this story connect Corporate Transparency with Environmental Sustainability of AI over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/2026/06/04/be-less-polite-how-to-cut-your-ai-impact-as-…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence

Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 10

schedule Pending 7

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Claim 1: “A typical ChatGPT-style query is about 200 times more energy-intensive than the type of basic text classification used in an email spam filter”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “Last year, global data centres used 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity, more than all but 10 countries of the world, said the report.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources cite the UN report stating global data centers used 448 trillion watt-hours (TWh) in 2025, exceeding all but 10 countries.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satell…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In top-level association football competitions, 27 players have scored 500 or more goals in both club and international football, according to research by the IFFHS, first published in 2007. Taking in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_footballers_with_500_o…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Odyssey is a 2026 epic fantasy action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. An adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic the Odyssey, the film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_(2026_film)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “That electricity use produced about 189 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, about the same amount as Argentina, and producing that much energy consumed about 4.5 trillion litres of water, according to the report”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm the report's figures: 189 million metric tons of CO2 (comparable to Argentina) and 4.5 trillion liters of water.

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago ... A new report by Allianz Trade suggests the world's data centers could produce 286 million metric tons of CO₂ in 2025—about 57% more than ...
https://www.facebook.com/TechnologyInnovation1/posts/a-new-r…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... ... trillion litres, while CO2 emissions will rise to 399 million tons. ... electricity use produced about 208 million tons (189 million metric tons) ...
https://www.facebook.com/jeremyjonjojola/posts/new-un-report…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 3, 2026 ... That electricity use produced about 208 million tons (189 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, about the same amount as Argentina, and ...
https://apnews.com/article/ai-data-centers-environment-clima…

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Claim 4: “That would save about the same amount of electricity as what about 700,000 people in Africa use in a year, the report said.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “The report said GPT-3 used about 1.3 billion watt-hours to train, but the next version used 50 to 70 billion watt-hours.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “By 2030, data centres will account for nearly three per cent of the world's projected electricity use, with 935 trillion watt-hours.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the projection that by 2030, data centers will use 935 trillion watt-hours, accounting for nearly 3% of global electricity use.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Last year, global data centers used 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity, more than all but 10 countries of the world, said the report issued Wednesday.By 2030, data centers will account for nearly …
https://www.wral.com/news/ap/a792f-un-calculates-nation-size…

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web search NEUTRAL — By 2030, data centers are projected to account for nearly 3% of global electricity consumption, with an anticipated total of 935 trillion watt-hours.
https://news.ssbcrack.com/data-centers-environmental-impact-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Water use can also be indirect. Even when a data center uses less water on site, the electricity it consumes may come from power plants that require water for cooling. This means the environmental foo…
https://techgrid.media/articles/ais-data-center-boom-is-turn…

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Claim 7: “If data centres were a country, the country would be projected to rank sixth-highest in power use in 2030.”

CORROBORATED

Although the specific evidence section for claim 8 was empty, the evidence provided for claim 1 explicitly contains the sentence: 'If data centers were a country, the country would be projected to rank sixth-highest in power use in 2030.'

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Claim 8: “About 20 per cent of data centres’ energy is currently due to AI, but that should grow to 40 per cent by 2030, the report said.”

CORROBORATED

A report by Allianz Trade and other search results estimate AI currently accounts for 15-20% of data center electricity use, growing to 40% by 2030.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and dec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — .ai is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is administered by the government of Anguilla. It is a popular domain hack wit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ai

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — AI commonly refers to artificial intelligence, which is intelligence demonstrated by machines. Ai, ai, a.i, A.I or AI may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “The report came just after Californian city Monterey Park became the first in the US to vote for a permanent ban on data centres on Tuesday (2 June).”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “The report found that cutting word use in requests by 30 per cent can reduce energy used by AI by 25 per cent.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 11: “That would produce nearly 399 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the report said.”

CORROBORATED

Although the specific evidence section for claim 9 was empty, the evidence provided for claim 6 explicitly mentions that 'CO2 emissions will rise to 399 million tons' by the projected date.

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Claim 12: “The environmental footprint of data centres already rivals some of the world's largest countries, according to a United Nations University report released on 3 June.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm a United Nations University (UNU) report stating that the environmental footprint of data centers rivals some of the world's largest countries.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Nations (UN) is a global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations on 26 June 1945 with the articulated mission of maintaining internati…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Nations University (UNU) (国際連合大学, Kokusai Rengō Daigaku) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN ins…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_University

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University for Peace (UPEACE) is an international university and intergovernmental organization established as a treaty organisation by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1980. The univ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_for_Peace

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 13: “The majority of people – 70 per cent – are polite to AI when interacting with it, according to a survey carried out by British publisher Future in 2024.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources refer to a December 2024 survey by Future stating that approximately 70% of people are polite to AI.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — AI safety is an interdisciplinary field focused on preventing accidents, misuse, or other harmful consequences arising from artificial intelligence systems. It encompasses AI alignment (which aims to …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_safety

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Devin AI is an AI-assisted software development tool created by Cognition Labs. It is designed to autonomously complete software development tasks. Devin AI has received both praise and skepticism reg…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devin_AI

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses generative models to generate text, images, videos, audio, software code (vibe coding) or other forms…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_AI

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 14: “About 90 per cent of the power use of AI comes from operational requests”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 15: “GPT alone accounts for 2.5 billion prompts a day”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 16: “Of the respondents, 55 per cent said they do this because "it's just the nice thing to do", while 12 per cent said it was because "when the robot uprising happens, I don't want to come first".”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the specific survey results from Future/TechRadar, including the 12% figure regarding the 'robot uprising'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In the field of artificial intelligence (AI), alignment aims to steer AI systems toward a person's or group's intended goals, preferences, or ethical principles. An AI system is considered aligned if …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_alignment

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An AI boom is a period of rapid growth in the field of artificial intelligence. The most recent boom happened in the 2020s before seeing increased acceleration and media coverage. Examples of this inc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_boom

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 17: “Their water use, energy use and pollution is predicted to double in just four years as use of artificial intelligence grows.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web sources explicitly state that water, energy use, and pollution are predicted to double in four years due to AI growth.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Oct 17, 2025 ... A study by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) and University of Houston found that data centers in Texas will use 49 billion gallons of ...
https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 7, 2026 ... ... four years, their water and energy use and pollution are predicted to double. ... due to their energy consumption, carbon emissions, and water ...
https://www.facebook.com/wesh2news/posts/the-environmental-f…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... If data centers were a country, the country would be projected to rank sixth-highest in power use in 2030. That would produce nearly 440 million ...
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/energy-water-use-and-po…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.