FTC investigates Nvidia for misleading green claims about GPUs

Nvidia is under federal scrutiny for its environmental claims, and experts say the AI industry still has no solid climate case. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission opened a probe last month after the company advertised its GPUs as “green” and “energy‑efficient” for AI workloads. The FTC says the claims lack supporting data and could mislead consumers and investors.

AI models consume huge amounts of electricity, especially when they are trained. A single large language model can use as much energy as a small city for a week. The industry has argued that AI will cut emissions by automating tasks, improving efficiency, and enabling new green technologies. But the evidence is thin. Mary Nichols, a former California Air Resources Board chair, wrote that the climate case for AI has not been made. She points out that the carbon footprint of training and running models is often not disclosed, and the promised benefits have not been quantified.

The FTC’s investigation focuses on Nvidia’s marketing materials and its claim that its GPUs reduce power usage per inference. Nvidia has said its chips are among the most efficient on the market, but the company has not released independent energy‑usage data