India, July 23 -- Microsoft is buying 4.9 million metric tonnes of organic waste, which includes human waste, manure, paper sludge, food and agricultural residue. According to a report by Inc., this is part of a deal with the startup Vaulted Deep (known for "putting waste to work), through which the tech giant aims to reduce the global carbon footprint.

For context, artificial intelligence programmes, such as those that power ChatGPT or Microsoft's own Copilot suite, and even most tech-related endeavours require large amounts of energy and water to function, which in turn raises a company's carbon footprint.

To address this, Microsoft aims to purchase organic waste and bury it deep underground so that it does not release any greenhouse ...