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Responsible AI Chatbots

Many chatbots call themselves green or ethical. This page sets out what each one actually offers, side by side. If you spot an error or omission, let us know.

This page takes positions. A row with a “Prefer” line names the more responsible answer, and the Evidence section below the table gives each position and its reasons.

TreadLightlyAI is made by the same person who makes Dangerous Robot. It is listed under the same criteria and sources as every other product, and we publish no verdict on claims about it.

Summary

Each product at a glance: AI ethics, environment, finances and notes.
Product AI ethicsEnvironmentalFinancial transparencyNotes
ChatGPTree Proprietary model (US), GPT-4 Not yet sourced. Conventional cloud hosting; funds tree planting via Evertreen and Veritree. Not yet sourced. No published financials. Not yet sourced. REDD-Monitor called partner Evertreen's tree planting non-transparent (December 2025); Evertreen responded. Veritree is transparency-focused.
Earthly Insight Proprietary models (US). Not yet sourced. Conventional cloud hosting. 33% of revenue to Global Rewilding Alliance. No published financials. Not yet sourced. Launched October 2025. Not yet sourced.
Ecosia AI Chat provider: Mistral. Conventional cloud hosting; funds tree planting projects worldwide. Not yet sourced. Non-profit steward-ownership; publishes financial reports. Free, ad-supported. Not yet sourced.
Euria Open-weight models (US, EU, CN). Not yet sourced. Infomaniak data center (PUE 1.06, waste heat to district heating). 100% renewable energy. Infomaniak is a Swiss B Corp; no published financials. Not yet sourced. Offsets 200% of its CO2 emissions through myclimate.org.
GreenPT Open-weight models only. Hosted by Scaleway in Paris (PUE 1.25), powered by 100% renewable energy. GreenPT BV, Netherlands; no published financials. Not yet sourced. Smaller, more efficient models.
TreadLightlyAI Open-weight models from Google DeepMind and OpenAI; Anthropic's Claude on the Advanced plan. Infomaniak (PUE 1.06, waste heat to district heating) + Anthropic conventional cloud. Not yet sourced. Sole proprietorship; no published financials. Not yet sourced. Has free tier. Displays energy usage.
Viro AI Proprietary models (US) and open-weight models (US, CN). Not yet sourced. Conventional cloud hosting; offsets via Terrapass RECs; methodology published. Solo-founder LLC; Viro Climate Action, Inc; no public disclosure. Not yet sourced. Partner Terrapass entered a California DFPI consent order in July 2025.

Comparison table

Filter
Products
Feature ChatGPTree Earthly Insight Ecosia AI Euria GreenPT TreadLightlyAI Viro AI
Environmental
Hosted on renewable energy
Prefer: Yes
Unknown.
Unknown.
Partial. Partly preferred.
Yes, preferred.
Yes, preferred.
Partial. Partly preferred.
Most plans
Unknown.
Real-time energy display
Prefer: Yes
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred.
Yes, preferred.
Yes, preferred. Not yet sourced.
No image generation
Prefer: Yes
Yes, preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred.
Yes, preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred.
No. Not preferred.
Models & AI safety
Models
Prefer: no large models
GPT-4o. Not preferred.
GPT-5.6 Terra, Claude Sonnet, Gemini Pro & Flash. Not preferred.
Mistral.
Not yet sourced.
DeepSeek R1, Qwen 3, Mistral Nemo, Llama 3.
Mistral Small, GPT-OSS, Gemma 4, preferred.
Gemma 4, GPT-OSS, Claude Haiku & Sonnet, preferred.
Not yet sourced.
GPT, Claude, Gemini, LLaMA.
Open-weight models
Prefer: Yes
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred.
Yes, preferred.
Partial. Partly preferred.
Most plans
Partial. Partly preferred. Not yet sourced.
Product Features
Image and document analysis
No. Not yet sourced.
Yes.
Images
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Agent web search
No. Not yet sourced.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Normal web search
Prefer: Yes
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred.
Yes, preferred.
Yes, preferred.
Accessibility
Prefer: Yes
Partial. Partly preferred. Not yet sourced.
Mixed support
Partial. Partly preferred. Not yet sourced.
Mixed support
Unknown. Not yet sourced.
Partial. Partly preferred. Not yet sourced.
Mixed support
Partial. Partly preferred. Not yet sourced.
Mixed support
Partial. Partly preferred. Not yet sourced.
Mixed support
Partial. Partly preferred. Not yet sourced.
Mixed support
Privacy & data
Data used for training
Prefer: No
Unknown. Not yet sourced.
Unknown. Not yet sourced.
No, preferred. Not yet sourced.
No, preferred.
No, preferred.
No, preferred.
No, preferred.
Contextual ads
Data jurisdiction
US.
Not yet sourced.
US.
EU (GDPR).
Swiss (FADP + GDPR).
EU (GDPR).
Not yet sourced.
US.
US.
Business & cost
Published financials
Prefer: Yes
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
Yes, preferred.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
No. Not preferred. Not yet sourced.
Ownership structure
Prefer: non-profit or similar
Not yet sourced.
Private. Partly preferred.
LLC. Partly preferred.
Steward-owned, preferred.
B Corp, preferred.
Private. Partly preferred.
Not yet sourced.
Sole proprietorship. Partly preferred.
Not yet sourced.
LLC. Partly preferred.
Free tier
No. Not yet sourced.
Yes.
Yes. Not yet sourced.
Ad supported
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Yes.
Ad supported
Pricing
$ 11 /mo.
$ 23 /mo.
Not yet sourced.
Free.
Not yet sourced.
€ 1.58 /mo (kSuite Pro).
€ 4.50 | 17.50 /mo.
$ 3 | 8 | 20 /mo.
Not yet sourced.
$ 1 | 10 /mo.
Maturity
Not yet sourced.
Not yet sourced.
Not yet sourced.
Not yet sourced.
Launched Oct 2023.
Launched Dec 2025.
Not yet sourced.
Not yet sourced.
Not yet sourced.
Launched Jul 2026.
Not yet sourced.
Not yet sourced.

Data gathered from public sources and direct research. If something is wrong, let us know. Last updated: .

Legend:
  • Yes
  • No
  • Partial
  • Unknown
Color:
  • Preferred
  • Not preferred
  • Partly
Evidence:
  • Reviewed claim
  • Source
  • No mark: not yet sourced

Rows without a “Prefer” line compare facts only; the page takes no position on them.

Evidence

One entry per row. Each starts with our position and why, then shows what each product's answer rests on.

Hosted on renewable energy our position

Prefer: Yes The electricity behind each answer is the part of AI's footprint a chatbot can choose most directly. Position: AI is fueling environmental destruction.

Real-time energy display our position

Prefer: Yes A per-conversation energy display makes a hidden cost visible, so you can weigh it. Position: AI is fueling environmental destruction.

No image generation our position

Prefer: Yes Making an image takes much more energy than answering in text. Sources: University of Southern California.

Published financials our position

Prefer: Yes Published finances show who pays for a product and where the money goes. Position: People have a right to informed choices about AI.

Models our position

Prefer: no large models Large models, a lab's most capable tier, cost the most energy per answer, and choosing them rewards the companies racing to build ever more powerful AI. Smaller models are better for the planet and for AI safety. Position: AI is fueling environmental destruction.

Large models: GPT-4o, Gemini Pro. Not large: Mistral Small, GPT-OSS, Gemma 4, Claude Haiku, Claude Sonnet, Gemini Flash, GPT-5.6 Terra. Sources: OpenAI, OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude Platform), Google AI for Developers, Google AI for Developers, Mistral AI.

Data used for training our position

Prefer: No Training on your conversations uses what you type for purposes beyond your request. Position: People have a right to informed choices about AI.

Ownership structure our position

Prefer: non-profit or similar Non-profits, steward-owned companies, cooperatives, B Corps and employee-owned companies answer to more than shareholder returns. Position: AI outcomes are being decided by a small group of people.

Free tier comparison only, no position
Pricing comparison only, no position
Maturity comparison only, no position
Image and document analysis comparison only, no position
Agent web search comparison only, no position
Normal web search our position

Prefer: Yes A normal web search built into the chatbot gives easy access to a lower-energy tool than an AI answer. Position: AI is fueling environmental destruction.

Accessibility our position

Prefer: Yes WCAG 2.x Level AA support helps ensure that people who use assistive technology can use the chatbot too. Sources: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

  • ChatGPTree Checked by Dangerous Robot, 2026-10-10. Not yet sourced.
  • Earthly Insight Checked by Dangerous Robot, 2026-10-10. Not yet sourced.
  • Ecosia AI Checked by Dangerous Robot, 2026-10-10. Not yet sourced.
  • Euria Checked by Dangerous Robot, 2026-10-10. Not yet sourced.
  • GreenPT Checked by Dangerous Robot, 2026-10-10. Not yet sourced.
  • TreadLightlyAI Checked by Dangerous Robot, 2026-10-10. Not yet sourced.
  • Viro AI Checked by Dangerous Robot, 2026-10-10. Not yet sourced.
Data jurisdiction comparison only, no position
Open-weight models our position

Prefer: Yes Open-weight models can be inspected, run and hosted by anyone, so no single company controls where they run. Position: AI outcomes are being decided by a small group of people.

AI ethics summary summary table
Environmental summary summary table
Financial transparency summary summary table
Notes summary summary table

Footnotes

  1. Ecosia energy display Shows a tree counter (how many trees your searches have funded) rather than per-query energy data. This is an engagement metric, not energy transparency.