Google releases a study saying a median Gemini text prompt uses 0.26mm of water and produces ~0.03g of CO2; critics: omitting indirect water use is misleading
Google shared a study of Gemini's environmental impact, but it omits some key data. … Amid a fierce debate about the environmental toll …
The Verge Justine Calma
Related Coverage
- In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses MIT Technology Review · Casey Crownhart
- Google reveals how much energy a Gemini query uses - in industry first ZDNET · Radhika Rajkumar
- Our approach to energy innovation and AI's environmental footprint The Keyword · Ben Gomes
- Google Wants You to Know the Environmental Cost of Quizzing Its AI Wall Street Journal · Clara Hudson
- Google Says the Median Gemini Prompt Uses 5 Drops of Water The New Stack · Frederic Lardinois
- Google shares how much energy is used for new Gemini AI prompts Axios · Ben Geman
- What's the carbon footprint of using ChatGPT or Gemini? [August 2025 update] Sustainability · Hannah Ritchie
- Google Reveals Gemini's Energy Use in Landmark AI Transparency Report WinBuzzer · Markus Kasanmascheff
- Google did the math on AI's energy footprint Fast Company · Adele Peters
- What's the environmental cost of an AI text prompt? Google says it has an answer. CBS News · Megan Cerullo
- Google wants to make AI's energy footprint a ‘non-consideration,’ but it's not there yet Semafor · Tim McDonnell
- In a first, Google is sharing numbers about energy use from its Gemini products. The median prompt uses about 0.24 watt-hours of electricity, about the same as running the microwave for one second. … Casey Crownhart
Discussion
-
@justinhendrix
Justin Hendrix
on bluesky
Google has just released a technical report detailing how much energy its Gemini apps use for each query, and estimates of water consumption and carbon emissions.... the median prompt...consumes 0.24 watt-hours of electricity, the equivalent of running a standard microwave for ab…
-
@caseycrownhart
Casey Crownhart
on bluesky
We've finally got some hard numbers on AI's energy demand from a major tech company: Google says a median prompt to Gemini uses 0.24 watt-hours of electricity. 🧵 @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/21/ 1...
-
@shanumathew93
Shanu Mathew
on x
Per new paper, Google says a median Gemini text prompt uses ~0.24 Wh (9 seconds of TV), 0.26 mL water (~5 drops). ~58% of the energy is used toward the accelerator, 25% is the host CPU/DRAM, 10% is “idle” capacity kept ready for reliability, and 8% is datacenter overhead [image]
-
r/Bard
r
on reddit
Google has possibly admitted to quantizing Gemini