At Orange Business, sustainability is not just a corporate obligation but is a strategic imperative pivotal to everything we do in an era defined by climate urgency and environmental accountability. This includes harnessing commercial GenAI's power and developing advanced methods to measure and manage its carbon emissions to reduce negative impact on our planet, while strengthening the trust of our stakeholders through transparency, responsibility and long-term commitment
Three key takeaways:
- Understanding AI’s carbon impact is key to driving effective climate action
- Emphasizing our commitment to being a trusted operator, Orange Business is actively deploying a carbon-calculation approach with its Live Intelligence GenAI offer
- This first-of-its-kind GenAI carbon calculator methodology, based on recognized and proven methods, will be integrated across all Orange Business GenAI products and services moving forward, emphasizing transparency, innovation and measurable progress toward a low-carbon future
The critical role of carbon calculation in achieving sustainability goals
Sustainable AI is now seen as a key opportunity in the boardrooms of organizations worldwide. According to IDC, 76% of IT decision-makers globally consider AI “critical” or “very important” to their organizations’ sustainable transformation strategy. In addition, more than 40% say that at least half of their AI spend has a sustainability-related component.
To achieve sustainable AI goals, enterprises must look beyond their ambitions and gain a sharper understanding of their specific needs regarding AI-enabled sustainability solutions. At the same time, they must mitigate the potential risks that come with deploying AI across their operations.
Developing an open calculation methodology is one of our notable accomplishments and a testament to our proactive and forward-thinking approach to sustainability. Unlike most of our competitors, differentiating ourself from the industry-standard practices, Orange Business is committed to disclosing the carbon impact of our products and solutions. This enables our customers to make informed, sustainable choices that align with their environmental values and goals.
Minimizing environmental impact through innovation
Orange Business ensures the responsible use of AI by favoring the proper model for the correct use. We also optimize its deployment and use to combine efficiency and frugality, measuring and minimizing its environmental impact. This means calculating the carbon cost of GenAI solutions, adopting eco-design principles and educating teams on how to build and use AI with fewer resources.
In this area, Orange Research recently published a research paper titled Frugal AI: Introduction, Concepts, Development and Open Questions. The paper provides an overview of frugal AI and explains the interface between AI, sustainability and innovation. In February of this year, Orange joined The Coalition for Sustainable AI, launched at the AI Action Summit, and contributes to the International Telecommunications Union to standardize the measurement of AI's environmental impact.
Simplified access to GenAI in a responsible manner
Orange Business has seamlessly integrated the first commercially open and available GenAI carbon emissions counting methodology into its comprehensive plug-and-play GenAI solution Live Intelligence, which was used as the calculator's initial test bed.
With sustainability at the core of its design, Live Intelligence now enables previewing CO2 impact before using the service and tracking the impact for each AI interaction, supporting more sustainable digital practices. This emissions tracking capability, proven through Live Intelligence, will be embedded across all Orange GenAI products moving forward, reinforcing the company’s commitment to responsible innovation.
Before its launch, more than 50,000 of our employees tested Live Intelligence, complete with the emissions counting methodology. Live Intelligence has transformed work practices, increased efficiencies and made users aware of the energy consumption of AI-powered searches. We basically calculate the carbon footprint and the target request to show the end user how much carbon the GenAI solution uses. This is important because, unlike traditional web searches, AI-driven queries often take advantage of large language models, like ChatGPT, which require significant computational resources.
Live Intelligence solutions adhere to the Orange Ethical and Responsible AI Charter, which sets out our ethical values regarding data and AI.
Responsible and trustworthy AI by design
The Orange Group places trust and responsibility at the heart of its strategy, with the ambition to be a trusted player in a responsible digital world. That’s why Orange Business promotes AI solutions that reflect our values. We are committed to designing fair and equitable systems, combating algorithmic bias and promoting diversity within our development teams. Thus, we plan to use this innovative carbon-emissions-counting methodology in future AI solutions.
At Orange Business, our Responsible AI by Design strategy helps build trust with customers, partners and stakeholders by demonstrating a commitment to ethical practices and transparency. We are deeply committed to empowering our customers to achieve their own sustainability goals. By embracing responsible practices, optimizing energy use and safeguarding data, we enable smarter, greener decisions with greater accountability. We believe that transparency is not just a principle – it is a foundation for trust and the key to building stronger, long-term partnerships with our customers.
Contact us to learn more about Orange Business Live Intelligence and sustainable AI.
About the authors
This blog is a collaboration between:
Muriel Moënza, AI Ethics Officer and Head of Data Governance at the Marketing & Data Office at Orange Business
Muriel leads the Orange Business Data & AI Democratization strategy to enhance operational efficiency and business ownership. Her professional background spans marketing, presales, sales management and IT consulting. More recently, Muriel upskilled her competencies in Ethical AI and set up a Data and Responsible AI by Design program for use cases and solutions development support.
Nathalie Charbonniaud, Data & AI CSR Lead at Orange
Nathalie champions the integration of responsible AI into sustainability initiatives across the organization. With expertise spanning Green IT, ethical AI frameworks and stakeholder engagement, she guides energy efficient and socially conscious data strategies. Nathalie contributes to European standards for sustainable AI, and she actively represents Orange at key events like VivaTech and the Orange Suppliers Forum, sharing insights on frugal AI and CSR-aligned innovation. With a cross-disciplinary background—from digital marketing to applied research—she bridges technology, ethics and environmental stewardship to help shape a more sustainable digital future.
Rose Djabre, Data Analyst at Orange
As a data analyst and expert in carbon analytics, specializing in CSR at Orange, Rose supports the assessment of the carbon footprint of generative AI systems, conducts research on the environmental impacts of AI, and defines and tracks CO2e reduction actions. She actively promotes sustainable AI through webinars and training sessions on frugal AI.
Learn more
Can we move towards a responsible AI?
Understand and explore all the issues AI raises through a series of interviews with contributors.
What are the levers of digital trust?
A two-minute answer from Nassima Auvray, Chief Trust Officer at Orange Business.