Microsoft’s carbon footprint increases in 2025, according to reporting that links the rise to the company’s expanding AI push and related data center activity. Both outlets say Microsoft produced about 34 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent last year, representing a 25% increase compared with the prior year. The growth is occurring as Microsoft pursues a long-term climate goal: becoming “carbon negative” by 2030. The reported figures indicate that emissions in 2025 move the company farther from that target, intensifying pressure on its efforts to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions despite the scale-up of AI workloads. While Microsoft has pledged to reach carbon-negative status by 2030, the reported emissions increase suggests that demand for computing power—especially from AI services—adds emissions faster than reductions can offset them. Both sources frame the trend as part of broader concerns that new data center capacity can strain corporate climate goals if decarbonization measures and offsets do not keep pace with rising energy use. The outlets focus on the scale of the increase and its implications for Microsoft’s 2030 pledge.