Contesting Big Tech’s AI Greenwashing

Sustainability is among the most contested topics in contemporary debates around AI. While the industry’s meteoric growth has sparked growing public concern about its environmental impacts, Big Tech companies have gone to great lengths to portray AI as not just sustainable but positively good for the environment. Misleading practices related to consumer transactions are illegal under EU law, and the 2024 Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition has just introduced stricter rules on greenwashing.