Top 5 Companies Using AI to Combat Climate Change
As wildfires, hurricanes, and temperatures reach record highs around the globe, the private sector has started to take matters into their own hands to combat the devastating effects of climate change. More and more tech giants have begun to set goals for carbon neutrality, with some companies utilizing their technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to help create a more environmentally sustainable future.
Listed alphabetically, here are the top 5 companies using AI to fight against climate change:
1. IBM
IBM recently unveiled its 5 in 5 climate and environmental research initiative, pledging to dedicate technology, talent, and resources to enable a more sustainable future. One of the company’s main goals is to utilize AI to simulate a method of converting atmospheric nitrogen into fertilizer, which helps increase sustainable agriculture growth. Also, IBM’s Green Horizons initiative works to make cities greener, and has incorporated AI to predict when pollution levels are likely to rise and to protect people from it.
2. Intel
On Earth Day, Intel partnered with Accenture and Sulubaaï Environmental Foundation to announce project CORaiL; an artificial intelligence solution to monitoring and analyzing coral reefs. On top of that, Intel has launched a large-scale water restoration project, a wildlife research project that uses AI to help researchers track polar bear behavior patterns, and the AI For Social Good Program, which seeks to positively impact Earth, society, and global health.
3. Facebook
Teaming with researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, Facebook recently launched the Open Catalyst Project, in an effort to address climate change through artificial intelligence. The project’s goal is to find new “electrocatalysts” to convert wind and solar power into other fuels easy to store. Researchers can currently only test tens of thousands of catalysts, but through machine learning, Facebook hopes to create millions if not billions of these catalysts, which will be very effective in combating climate change.
4. Google
Working with DeepMind, a Google-owned AI and research company, Google applied machine learning algorithms to reduce the amount of energy from their numerous data centers by 40% on top of investing in green energy sources. On a larger scale, this helps other companies who rely on Google’s cloud to reduce their energy emissions as well, setting a sustainable precedent for other companies to follow. With the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030, Google has also vowed to stop making custom AI and ML tools for large oil firms.
5. Microsoft
Microsoft’s AI for Earth Program provides Microsoft’s cloud and Artificial Intelligence tools for scientists and researchers working to combat climate change. Microsoft’s Cloud Agronomics Project uses AI to provide crop growers with crop and soil insights, leading to more sustainable and efficient food production. While Microsoft is receiving heavy criticism for providing AI and machine learning tools for companies in the fossil fuel industry, Microsoft recently announced its goal to be carbon negative by 2030.
Looking forward to the future, it is essential that more companies utilize their technological capabilities to combat climate change and prevent irreversible changes that will last for future generations to come. It is fascinating to see the possibilities of how AI can positively affect our environment, and hopefully more and more companies will contribute.
