Google says the median Gemini app text prompt consumes 0.24Wh of energy, about the same as running a microwave for a second, and emits 0.03g of CO2 equivalent
an official report confirms that Gemini consumes per query: — 0.24 Wh of energy (~9 seconds of TV) — 0.03 g of CO2 equivalent — 0.26 ml of water (about 5 drops) — blog: cloud.google.com/blog/product... Nicole Hennig / @nic221 : Measuring the environmental impact of AI inference | Google Cloud Blog https://cloud.google.com/blog/ products/infrastructure/measuring-the- environmental-impact-of-ai-inference #AI #climate #energy #Google [image] @digiconomist : It also ignores that Google's total power demand has gone up by a massive 50% over the past two years (driven by AI) despite all the reported efficiency gains (a classic Jevons' paradox). Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix : 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 about one second. Stephen Shankland / @stshank : “The per-prompt energy impact is equivalent to watching TV for less than nine seconds.” — At long last, some hard data on generative AI power use (and water use & CO2 emissions). Google research paper also says energy use per prompt dropped 33x in last 12 months: cloud.google.com/blog/product... … Jeff Dean / @jeffdean : AI efficiency is important. The median Gemini Apps text prompt in May 2025 used 0.24 Wh of energy (<9 seconds of TV watching) & 0.26 mL (~5 drops) of water. Over 12 months, we reduced the energy footprint of a median text prompt 33x, while improving quality: — cloud.google.com/blog/product... … Casey Crownhart / @caseycrownhart : 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... Mastodon: Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. / @BenjaminHCCarr@hachyderm.io : #Google released data on how much #energy an #AI prompt uses — Google's technical report detailing how much energy #Gemini apps use for each query. In total, the median prompt—one that falls in the middle of the range of energy demand—consumes 0.24 watt-hours of #electricity, the equivalent of running a standard microwave for about one second. … @aSweetGentleman@mstdn.social : “Growing electricity demand has triggered a spate of new plans to build gas and nuclear power plants, which also consume water in their own cooling systems and to turn turbines using steam. — In fact, a majority of the water a data center consumes stems from its electricity use — which Google overlooks in this study. … X: Jeff Dean / @jeffdean : AI efficiency is important. Today, Google is sharing a technical paper detailing our comprehensive methodology for measuring the environmental impact of Gemini inference. We estimate that the median Gemini Apps text prompt uses 0.24 watt-hours of energy (equivalent to watching an average TV for ~nine seconds), and consumes 0.26 milliliters of water (about five drops) — figures that are substantially lower than many public estimates. @jalexandria22 : I keep saying it: AI does not make your life better enough for how much actual energy it needs and damage it does Kevin Roose / @kevinroose : Glad AI labs are starting to release data on this. It probably won't shift the “AI is killing the environment” narrative (which was always more vibe-based than anything) but now at least people can argue over real numbers. Steve Hsu / @hsu_steve : 100 AI prompts can boil a cup of water! “the median prompt—one that falls in the middle of the range of energy demand—consumes 0.24 watt-hours of electricity, the equivalent of running a standard microwave for about one second” [image] Toby Rogers / @utobian : My hypothesis is that AI data centers have already more than wiped out all of the carbon saving gains from all U.S. energy efficiency programs combined. Rihard Jarc / @rihardjarc : $GOOGL just announced that the median Gemini text prompt uses 0.24 watt-hours of energy & has dropped by 33x from May 2024 to May 2025. AI infra efficiency and the ability to serve inference will turn out to be a key advantage in the AI race. $GOOGL is positioned well with TPUs. Prashant / @prashant_1722 : BREAKING 🚨 Google median Gemini beats OpenAI ChatGPT and Meta Llama models on chart as the highest-performing model in energy per prompt results plotted against LMArena score “One Gemini text query ~= 9 seconds of watching TV” From May 2024 to May 2025, Google reduced Gemini [image] Michael Terrell / @michael_terrell : Incredible to see that the energy used for a median Gemini AI text prompt has dropped 33x in only 12 months. This is a huge achievement - and one that would not have been possible without the work of many Googlers and focused efforts to deliver greater efficiencies across the full stack of AI. @iethics : Useful to have this kind of disclosure (& not just for text prompts); it would be even more useful if accompanied by disclosure of the overall environmental impact, given what the paper itself describes as “the immense scale of user adoption globally.” #ethics #AI #tech #Google @tbpn : BREAKING: New Google paper says the median Gemini prompt uses 33× less energy and 44× less carbon than last year. [image] @googlecloud : How much energy does our AI use? We did the math. Today, a median Gemini Apps text prompt uses 0.24 watt-hours of energy and 0.26 milliliters of water. That's equivalent to watching TV for less than nine seconds and five drops of water. Learn more → https://cloud.google.com/... [image] Adam Elman / @adamelman : New @Google data shows that a median Gemini text prompt uses the energy equivalent of watching TV for a little less than 9 seconds⚡and about five drops of water 💧Learn more ⤵️ https://cloud.google.com/... Ankur Kotwal / @ankurkotwal : As a daily Gemini user, I've been asked about the energy use and environmental impact of using LLMs. We've just published a blog post that goes into detail about how it works. Spoiler - one prompt is equal to ~9 seconds of TV watching. https://cloud.google.com/... Stephen Shankland / @stshank : “The per-prompt energy impact is equivalent to watching TV for less than nine seconds.” At long last, some hard data on generative AI power use (and water use & CO2 emissions). Google research paper also says energy use dropped 33x in last 12 mo.: https://cloud.google.com/... #AI Shanu Mathew / @shanumathew93 : 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] LinkedIn: Urs Hölzle : Lots of data about Gemini energy usage in the post and a technical paper. To me, the insanely rapid efficiency improvements (at the equal or better quality) … Bikash Koley : Understanding AI's energy and environmental footprint is critically important. We did the hard work of quantifying it at Google. … Giorgio Fortunato : ⚡ How much energy does Google's AI use? — 🔢 We did the math in this technical paper published today that provides a baseline of the energy … Amanda Peterson Corio : Over a recent 12-month period, the median Gemini text prompt's energy usage dropped by 33x and is now the equivalent of watching TV for a little less than nine seconds. … Amin Vahdat : As AI's role in society grows, so does the need for a deep understanding of its environmental impact. … Nacho Floristan : We just released a paper on energy & water consumption along carbon footprint for Gemini inference. Some eye opening findings: … Partha Ranganathan : https://lnkd.in/... As the adage goes, with great power comes great responsibility. With great computing power comes great environmental responsibility as well … Casey Crownhart : 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. … Forums: Hacker News : In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses r/environment : In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses. It's the most transparent estimate yet from one of the big AI companies … r/OptimistsUnite : Google finally release AI water and energy use secrets - an average query consumes only a few drops of water r/google : In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses r/climate : In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses r/technews : In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses r/Bard : Google has possibly admitted to quantizing Gemini r/technology : In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses