Google Reveals Energy Usage of Gemini AI Queries in Industry First
Summary
Google publishes energy and water usage estimates for its Gemini AI chatbot, stating a median query uses 0.24 watt-hours and emits 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide-equivalent.
Key quotes
The energy consumption, carbon emissions, and water consumption were actually a lot lower than what we’ve been seeing in some of the public estimates
Google released the first industry-wide report on the energy and water usage of its Gemini AI applications. The report measures the environmental impact of Gemini queries, including energy consumption, emissions, and cooling water requirements. Google’s methodology focuses on total system usage—not just inference costs—providing a complete view of AI’s footprint in data centers.