source: techcrunch ai: anthropic becomes first ai startup to join the frontier carbon removal coalition
level: business
anthropic is joining frontier, a carbon removal collective founded by tech companies like stripe, google, and shopify. the move adds $915 million in new pledges, nearly doubling frontier's total to $1.8 billion. frontier has already contracted almost $700 million across more than 50 projects to remove 1.8 million tons of carbon. companies use frontier's credits to offset their reported emissions.
anthropic is the first pure ai company to join, at a time when ai firms are buying large amounts of energy, not all of it clean. the company has not published a sustainability report and has favored an 'all of the above' energy approach, which often includes polluting sources. this climate deal may signal a shift in its stance. frontier vets carbon removal startups and signs contracts with those likely to deliver, acting as a shared resource for members.
frontier plans to fund fewer projects with higher scrutiny, targeting those with potential to remove a gigaton of co2 annually. new contracts will run eight to ten years and require a path to government support. the organization expects governments to eventually take over funding, as carbon removal is seen as necessary for net zero but costly for private companies. frontier will contract as far out as 2040, hoping public funding steps in afterward.
why it matters: ai companies' growing energy use makes their climate commitments critical, and this move shows how the industry might address hard-to-abate emissions through carbon removal markets.
source: techcrunch ai: anthropic becomes first ai startup to join the frontier carbon removal coalition