Key takeaways
- Reimagining is a real commitment, not just a tagline, and it comes with hard questions.
- We launched Shift AI knowing its environmental cost. We're still working through what that means.
- The Carbon Meter shows you your browsing footprint but it's not perfect.
- As part of the Redbrick portfolio of companies, Shift is a Certified B Corp. That's a standard we're held to and not just a credential we display.
- Carbon-neutral operations and Shift Gives are ongoing commitments we’re proud of.
- The 2026 Shift Impact Grant is open now. The theme is Reimagining. Apply or share it.
Reimagining is a word we use a lot at Shift. It's in how we talk about our product, how we think about building, and how we hold ourselves accountable as a company. But lately I've been sitting with a harder version of that question. Not "what are we reimagining?" but "what does it actually mean to reimagine responsibly?"
That question doesn't have a clean answer. This piece isn't going to pretend it does.
What I can tell you is that it's the same question driving the theme of our 2026 Shift Impact Grant: Reimagining. Not as a branding exercise, but as a genuine standard for what we want to fund and support in the world. It's worth knowing upfront that this isn't a word we're using lightly.
The tension we're sitting with
Earlier this year we launched Shift AI and I'm proud of what we built. The product is better for it, it fits naturally into how people already work inside Shift, and our users wanted it. We made that call with conviction.
We also made it knowing what responsible AI development requires us to acknowledge: that AI and climate change are connected in ways the industry is still working out. Every inference, every model call, every query processed in a data centre draws on significant energy. The full picture of what that means at scale is still being understood, including at Shift.
Here's the part that sits with me: we can offset some of our AI emissions, but not all of it. We offset the data traveling to and from AI models, but the energy consumed by the AI model itself is harder to pin down. This is unfortunately something we can’t control. Most AI companies are not publicly disclosing their energy usage, and without that data, offsetting accurately isn't possible for anyone right now. Some estimates exist, but they're generalized and we're not in the business of slapping a carbon-neutral label on something we can't measure with real confidence. What we can tell you is that we're doing the work: following the science, talking to the right people, and actively looking for a path forward as that data becomes available. We don't have the complete answer yet but we're certainly on it.
We offset 615 tonnes in Q1 2026. Here's what that means.
Every quarter, we measure the CO₂ generated by browsing in Shift and offset it. In Q1 2026, that number was 615 tonnes. Here's what we did with it and why the work is just getting started.
Read MoreWhat we're actually doing
Commitments mean more when they're specific, so here's where we actually stand.
Shift became a carbon-neutral company by beginning to offset the impact of our own operations. You can't credibly ask hard questions about the environmental cost of technology if you haven't started with your own home.
As part of the Redbrick portfolio of companies, Shift is also a Certified B Corp. That means our commitments across governance, environment, workers, and community are independently verified and require ongoing reporting. It's not a badge you earn once and hang on the wall. It's a standard we're held to continuously, and one that asks harder questions than most corporate sustainability commitments ever do.
From there, we built the Carbon Meter into Shift. It measures the CO₂ your browsing produces when you use Shift, giving users visibility into something that's normally invisible. On the AI side, we offset what we can currently measure, and we're actively working toward a solution as more research becomes available and the industry becomes more transparent. At the end of the day, making the invisible visible is where awareness starts, and awareness is where industry change follows.
We also run Shift Gives, our social impact program dedicated to making a meaningful contribution to the communities that we live, work, and play in. Shift Gives goes beyond a campaign or a one-time donation tied to a launch moment. It's a sustained commitment to our values, brought to life through employee volunteering initiatives, scholarships and donations, and showing up for our community when they need us. Shift Gives is embedded in the very fabric of our business model, which is the only way this kind of commitment actually holds over time.
These things matter to us. But they're also internal. They reflect what we control. And the challenge of building responsible tech in a world where AI's environmental cost is still being understood is bigger than what any company's internal commitments can fully address. That's what led us to the Shift Impact Grant and to organizations like FireSwarm, doing focused on-the-ground work that we can’t do ourselves.
Shift Gives 2026 roundup: here's what we've been up to
From offsetting 615 tonnes of CO₂ to sponsoring community walks and funding STEM scholarships, Shift Gives has had a full first half of 2026. Here's a look at what we've been up to and what's still ahead.
Read MoreThe 2026 Shift Impact Grant
The grant exists because we believe the most important reimagining happening right now isn't inside any one company. It's in the organizations rethinking systems entirely, rather than just optimizing within the ones we inherited.
The theme of the 2026 Shift Impact Grant is Reimagining. We chose it because it reflects what we're trying to do at Shift and what we want to support in the world: organizations asking whether the assumptions underneath our current systems are actually the right ones, builders working at the intersection of responsible AI practices and environmental impact, operators making sustainability something people can actually see and act on.
Specifically, we're looking to fund organizations that are:
- Using technology to measure, reduce, offset, or reimagine environmental impact
- Rethinking how communities interact with their digital and physical environments
- Making sustainability more accessible, visible, or actionable for the people who need it most
Scale doesn't disqualify you, and it doesn't qualify you either. Some of the most important work on AI and climate change is happening in small, focused organizations with real constraints and clear missions. We're not looking for the biggest applicant. We're looking for the work that needs to exist.
Applications are open now. The process is straightforward and every submission receives careful consideration.
The 2026 Shift Impact Grant: $25,000 for climate action
Shift launches the 2026 Impact Grant: $25,000 USD for a nonprofit, social venture, or early-stage startup reimagining what's possible at the intersection of technology and climate action. Applications are open now through July 2, 2026.
Read MoreWhere we go from here
There's a version of this piece I could have written where everything is resolved. Where we launched Shift AI and had the emissions question figured out in the same breath. Where our B Corp certification, carbon-neutral operations, Carbon Meter, and Shift Gives add up to a complete answer. That piece would be easier to write but a lot less true.
What I actually know is that our commitments are real and that they're not enough on their own. The gap between where we are and where the industry needs to be is significant. We're one browser. We're not going to close that gap alone.
But here's what I believe: the companies that could close it faster aren't small ones. The platforms and ecosystems that billions of people use every day have more data, more infrastructure, more leverage with energy providers, and more ability to move this needle than any of us. We'd genuinely welcome them into this conversation, not as a challenge but as an invitation. The problem is big enough that there's no version of solving it that doesn't involve Big Tech deciding it's their problem too.
In the meantime, we'll keep doing what we can. We'll keep funding the people doing work we can't do ourselves. And we'll keep asking hard questions, because those are the questions most worthy of asking.
If you're doing meaningful work for people and the planet, apply for our 2026 Shift Impact Grant before July 2nd. If you know someone else who is, send this their way.
