The environmental cost behind Nvidia’s rise as world’s biggest AI chipmaker: Who is paying the price? – Greenpeace International

It started with fried chicken.

At the APEC 2025 in South Korea, NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang sat down with the heads of Samsung and Hyundai over fried chicken and beer. Behind the laughter and camera flashes came a big deal: over 250,000 graphics processing units (GPU) to expand South Korea’s AI infrastructure

On the surface, it looked like progress, a new chapter for innovation in East Asia. But behind that moment was an environmental cost the world isn’t paying enough attention to.

That’s why the System Shift podcast is back. In this new episode, Greenpeace East Asia looks at the real-world impacts behind NVIDIA’s record-breaking valuation, and asks the question: who is paying the price for the AI boom?

The powerhouse of AI and its hidden cost

For years, SK Hynix and Samsung in Korea and TSMC in Taiwan have powered NVIDIA’s rise. Together they have built the backbone of the global AI industry, producing the chips that fuel data centers and supercomputers everywhere. These companies have turned East Asia into the world’s electronics workshop, efficient, ambitious, and unstoppable.

But this success hides an uncomfortable truth. It is coming at a high environmental cost.

As the demand for AI chips grows, so does its appetite for…