A startup led by Microsoft veterans debuts a real-time carbon tracker for AI workloads
Neuralwatt, a Seattle-based startup launched by two Microsoft veterans, has released what appears to be the first tool to calculate, in real time, the carbon emissions of individual AI applications — everything from asking a bot to grade a high school essay to sending an autonomous AI agent to handle a complex coding assignment.
The co-founders hope the data will open up more planet-friendly jobs and give AI developers something to be optimistic about, as public concerns grow about the impacts of energy, water and data center utility bills.
There’s a lot of concern that AI requires a “data center everywhere,” says Chad Gibson, co-founder and CEO of Neuralwatt. While new facilities will be built, he added, existing ones and their energy sources can be used more efficiently.
The startup estimates that if AI growth continues at its current rate, and with current energy consumption, the technology could produce 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year by 2030 — volumes equivalent to adding millions of gas-powered cars to the road.
Neuralwatt aims to help avoid that effect. The carbon footprint of grid power varies throughout the day and across regions, depending on its source and demand. The company’s platform captures a snapshot of carbon intensity each time an AI task — or “inference,” in tech jargon — runs, giving customers insight into the emissions associated with that particular task.
Just as cloud users expect more data to be extracted from their usage, Gibson said companies using AI workloads will soon expect the same. “We believe that will be the future.”
The information is increasingly important for companies that will need to comply with Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and for other organizations that are disclosing the full range of their carbon emissions.
Neuralwatt offers three products, all of which include carbon-impact metrics: Neuralwatt Cloud, which provides AI services from leased data centers at energy-based rates; Neuralwatt Deploy, which identifies underutilized data centers for AI customers to tap into; and Neuralwatt Optimize, which allows data center managers to adjust workloads in real time to improve efficiency.
Its clients include Parasail, an AI startup; ZutaCore, which develops chip cooling technology; and Crusoe Cloud.
Gibson launched Neuralwatt in December 2024 with Scott Chamberlin, serving as technical expert. Both have spent more than two decades at Microsoft, with Gibson leaving in 2019 and Chamberlin in 2022. The two crossed paths while working on the company’s defunct Zune media player.
After leaving Microsoft, Gibson took an entrepreneurial path, becoming a limited partner at Seattle investment firm Flying Fish and an angel investor with the Alliance of Angels. Chamberlin, whose last Microsoft role was Windows sustainability, has moved to Intel to lead its green software strategy.
Neuralwatt joined the Climate Collective accelerator in 2025 and received a government grant to support its work, and was selected this year for the Plug and Play accelerator. The startup is also part of the Nvidia Inception and Microsoft Startups programs, which provide access to hardware and services.
Last summer, the company received an undisclosed seed investment from Powerhouse Ventures, Avesta Fund and Remarkable Ventures. The team consists of four employees and three consultants.
