Google published estimates for energy, emissions, and water consumption for its Gemini chatbot and released a framework for tracking app-level impacts. The average Gemini text prompt uses 0.24 watt‑hours of energy, emits 0.03 grams CO2e, and consumes 0.26 milliliters of water, a per‑prompt impact compared to watching TV for fewer than nine seconds. Google estimated about 350 million monthly Gemini users in March. The company said its findings are substantially lower than many public estimates. Rapid AI demand is expanding data centers and power plants, and industry‑wide energy and water usage remains uncertain due to varied user behavior and workloads.
AI demand is rapidly accelerating, which means the infrastructure that makes it possible -- data centers and the power plants that supply them -- is expanding, too. The lack of concrete data around exactly how much energy AI uses has created concern and debate about how that demand is impacting the environment. New data from Google hopes to change that. Also: How much energy does AI really use?
In an industry first, the company published estimates on its Gemini chatbot's energy usage and emissions. The average Gemini text prompt uses "0.24 watt-hours (Wh) of energy, emits 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (gCO2e), and consumes 0.26 milliliters (or about five drops) of water," Google said Thursday, comparing the per-prompt impact to "watching TV for less than nine seconds."
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