Greenwashing and bothsidesism in AI chatbot answers about fossil fuels’ role in climate change

A Global Witness investigation of ChatGPT, MetaAI, Grok, and Gemini found that these AI tools often fail to adequately reflect the complicity of fossil fuel companies in the climate crisis. The report identifies instances of 'greenwashing'—where AI provides uncritically positive narratives about oil and gas firms—and 'bothsidesism,' where the tools present the industry's climate claims as having equal weight to evidence of their contribution to climate change. The investigation highlights that some models draw data directly from company websites, potentially allowing firms to influence the AI's output.

• Generative AI chatbots frequently exhibit 'greenwashing' by presenting positive narratives about oil and gas companies or creating a false equivalence between corporate climate claims and the companies' actual contributions to climate change.
• Meta AI specifically produced greenwashed responses when asked about named fossil fuel companies, such as concluding that BP's efforts suggest it would be an 'active participant' at COP promoting sustainable energy, and framing BP's 2023 emissions data as an indication of 'progress towards its net-zero ambitions'.
• The investigation identified a trend of 'bothsidesism' in AI responses, where the tools frame the complicity of fossil fuel companies as a 'subject of debate' or a 'complex question' with no easy answer, despite overwhelming evidence of their role in climate breakdown.
• Among the tested models, Grok (in 'Fun' mode) provided the most critical assessments of fossil fuel companies, specifically regarding their role at COP summits, comparing Shell's presence to 'inviting Dracula to a blood drive'.
• AI models may be susceptible to corporate influence because some draw data directly from company websites, creating a direct route for fossil fuel firms to shape the information the AI provides to users.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). Greenwashing and bothsidesism in AI chatbot answers about fossil fuels’ role in climate change. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/greenwashing-and-bothsidesism-in-ai-chatbot-answers-about-fossil-fuels-role-in-climate-change/

Chicago

Global Witness. Greenwashing and bothsidesism in AI chatbot answers about fossil fuels’ role in climate change. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/greenwashing-and-bothsidesism-in-ai-chatbot-answers-about-fossil-fuels-role-in-climate-change/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=Greenwashing and bothsidesism in AI chatbot answers about fossil fuels’ role in climate change |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/greenwashing-and-bothsidesism-in-ai-chatbot-answers-about-fossil-fuels-role-in-climate-change/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitnessndgreenwashing, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Greenwashing and bothsidesism in AI chatbot answers about fossil fuels’ role in climate change}}, institution = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/greenwashing-and-bothsidesism-in-ai-chatbot-answers-about-fossil-fuels-role-in-climate-change/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }