Overview
- Leading private AI companies preparing public listings, including Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX, have not released full greenhouse gas inventories or formal sustainability reports.
- California’s SB253 requires companies with more than $1 billion in revenue to report Scope 1 and 2 emissions starting in November, prompting firms to begin internal accounting work.
- Anthropic is working with Watershed to measure its footprint and OpenAI is coordinating with data‑center partners and hiring ESG staff as they prepare for the reporting deadline.
- Companies can classify emissions from rented data centers as Scope 3, which would let them defer reporting most of their AI infrastructure footprint until later regulatory phases.
- Technical gaps in measuring model‑training emissions, local permit problems at gas‑turbine data centers in Memphis, and weaker U.S. regulatory and investor pressure mean full transparency will be staggered over years.