Google Reveals the Shocking Environmental Cost of a Single AI Prompt — and It’s (Probably) Not What You Might Think
By Amanda Caswell, Tom’s Guide
Google reveals the water, energy and carbon footprint of every Gemini AI prompt
For the first time, Google has publicly shared exactly how much energy, water and carbon go into a single AI prompt for Gemini. At first glance, the numbers sound shockingly…small?
According to Google’s newly released data, the median text prompt to Gemini consumes a mere 0.24 watt-hours of electricity. That’s the same amount you’d use watching TV for less than nine seconds (about 0.03 grams of CO₂, and 0.26 milliliters of water, roughly five drops).
But, that’s now [sic, not] the whole story…
