Unveiled energy consumption of AI prompts: Google discloses the amount of energy used by your prompts

Google, the global tech giant, has published a groundbreaking technical report detailing the environmental impact of AI queries, with a focus on the energy and resource consumption of its Gemini model.

The report, released in 2025, provides a comprehensive analysis of the energy, water, and carbon costs associated with running AI applications, specifically the Google Gemini app. It reveals that the Gemini model consumes 0.24 watt-hours of energy per text prompt, equivalent to running a microwave for one second or watching nine seconds of television.

The energy breakdown shows that 58% of the energy is used by Google's custom AI accelerators, known as TPUs, for their own operation. Another 25% goes to supporting systems like CPUs and memory, while 10% is allocated to backup equipment, and the last 8% is for data center overhead like cooling and power conversion.

Google's commitment to sustainability is evident in its significant investments in renewable energy. Since 2010, the company has invested in over 22 gigawatts of clean energy from nuclear, solar, wind, and geothermal projects. These investments have contributed to a reduction in emissions per unit of energy, making Google's emissions currently one-third of the average U.S. grid's emissions.

The report also highlights the company's efforts to make the Gemini model more efficient. This includes the development of smaller, more efficient Gemini versions, improvements in data center hardware, and optimising the custom TPUs to work better with software.

Google attributes this progress to its Mixture-of-Experts method, which only uses the parts of an AI model that are needed for specific queries, thus reducing energy consumption.

The report further demonstrates a substantial decrease in the energy used per question. Between May 2024 and May 2025, the amount of energy used per question dropped by 33 times. Each Gemini text prompt now also releases only 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide into the air and cools the data center with about 0.26 milliliters of water.

In addition to investing in renewable energy and making hardware and software changes, Google is also making strides in promoting sustainability. The clean energy purchased by Google is a part of its efforts to lower its emissions and promote a greener future.

Unveiled energy consumption of AI prompts: Google discloses the amount of energy used by your prompts