Artificial intelligence is often framed as an abstract force—a frontier of innovation detached from the material and social realities of its creation. Yet AI is not immaterial. It is built on the backs of laborers, fueled by vast amounts of extracted minerals, and powered by resource-intensive infrastructures that leave behind deep environmental and social scars.

In response to this, the AI Supply Chain Impact Framework has been developed by the AI + Planetary Justice Alliance. Our framework is designed to assess the environmental, social, and political impacts of AI systems across their entire lifecycle—from raw material extraction, through manufacturing, model training, and deployment, to disposal. We aim to make visible the extractive and exploitative dimensions of AI production that are often hidden in mainstream responsible AI discourse.

This tool is both a mapping and accountability instrument. It is built to help researchers, policymakers, civil society, and affected communities interrogate the AI industry’s practices, demand accountability, and push for systemic change. By identifying what we know and what we do not know—and by highlighting key data and information gaps—the framework challenges us to ask the critical questions: What materials go into AI systems, and at what cost? Who extracts, processes, and assembles AI hardware, and under what conditions? How do these processes impact local communities and ecosystems? And what happens to AI infrastructure when it is no longer in use?

We want to emphasize that this framework is a work in progress—a living, collaborative document that will evolve as new data, research, and community insights emerge. Many aspects of the AI supply chain remain unmeasured or partially disclosed, often due to corporate secrecy or inconsistent reporting. As such, our tool not only maps indicators of AI’s environmental and social footprint but—maybe most importantly—highlights the questions we still lack sufficient data to answer.

We invite you to join us in this effort. The file includes a link to a collaborative document where you can leave comments, ask questions, and share your insights. Your feedback is essential to refining this tool and advancing more accountable, sustainable practices in the AI industry.

Download the Framework by clicking on the cover!