BETA RELEASE

How Much Energy Does It Take to Power Billions of AI Queries?

Secondary article IEEE Spectrum
Published: 2025-10-01 Accessed: 2026-04-29
Original source ↗ Archived copy ↗

Summary

Analysis of energy consumption for generative AI queries, estimating ChatGPT's daily impact and projecting global AI energy needs through 2030.

Key quotes

OpenAI says ChatGPT has 700 million weekly users and serves more than 2.5 billion queries per day.
The Schneider Electric report estimates that all generative AI queries consume 15 TWh in 2025 and will use 347 TWh by 2030

The article examines the scale of energy requirements for AI inference, utilizing data from OpenAI and the Schneider Electric Sustainability Research Institute. It discusses the potential necessity of ‘Stargate-class’ gigawatt data centers to meet future demand.