Google has released a landmark study titled “Measuring the Environmental Impact of Delivering AI at Google Scale”, presenting a first-of-its-kind full-stack method to measure the energy, carbon, and water footprint of artificial intelligence. Unlike earlier estimates, the research considered a wide range of factors including AI accelerators, CPUs, RAM, idle machines, and data centre overheads such as cooling and power distribution.
The results are striking. According to the study, the median Gemini text prompt uses just 0.24 watt-hours of energy, which is “less energy than watching TV for nine seconds.” It generates only 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide and consumes 0.26 millilitres of water, described as “about five drops.” Google highlighted that the energy consumption of a median Gemini text prompt has decreased 33-fold and carbon emissions have reduced 44-fold in the past year, all while sustaining or improving performance quality.
Google stressed that transparency is the central goal. “We hope this methodology can inform broader industry standards and enable consistent, comparable reporting of AI’s environmental impact,” the authors wrote, encouraging industry peers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta to adopt similar practices.
However, not all experts are convinced. Some analysts pointed out that “efficiency gains at the prompt level may obscure rising overall environmental costs.” Others warned of the risks of underestimating emissions due to market-based accounting methods.
As the use of AI continues to expand rapidly across industries, Google aims to lead the global conversation on sustainability in technology. The company maintains that “asking Gemini a question might be greener than you think.”
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