Google reveals fresh insights into the energy demands behind Gemini AI prompts

Google has, for the first time, pulled back the curtain on the environmental footprint of its Gemini AI, breaking down the energy, emissions, and water impacts of each prompt. According to the company, the median Gemini Apps text prompt consumes about 0.24 watt-hours of energy. To put that into perspective, it is equivalent to watching television for nine seconds.

Gemini is Google’s flagship generative AI chatbot, powered by the Gemini large language model. Its capabilities have now been integrated into core Google applications, including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Meet. Every month, more than 450 million people interact with Gemini inside these apps.

Alongside the energy data, Google disclosed that a single prompt typically results in about 0.03 grams of greenhouse gas emissions and uses 0.26 millilitres of water. The company is urging users of AI technologies to demand detailed and transparent environmental impact data from providers, rather than relying solely on broad, public estimates. These estimates, Google warned, often become outdated as technology companies rapidly improve efficiencies and roll out new interventions.

As evidence, Google pointed to its progress. Over the past year, the company has achieved dramatic reductions in the footprint of Gemini Apps. The median energy use per text prompt has decreased by a factor of thirty-three, while the carbon footprint has reduced by a factor of forty-four. Gomes, speaking on behalf of the company, emphasized that transparency is essential for making progress, which is why Google chose to share both the numbers and the methodology behind them.

“We’re… investing in new infrastructure, engineering smarter and more resilient grids, and scaling both mature and next-generation sources of clean energy,” wrote Google’s chief technologist for learning and sustainability, Ben Gomes, in a new blog post.

“At the same time, we are also focused on maximising efficiency at every layer of our operations — from the design of our custom-built hardware to the software and models that run in our data centres.”

Still, the bigger picture remains challenging. Like many other technology firms, Google’s overall energy demand has surged in recent years. This increase is primarily driven by the need to operate massive data centers and AI infrastructure. To meet these demands, executives are exploring options that include nuclear power, renewable sources, and even geothermal projects.

In 2024, Google’s electricity consumption climbed by twenty-seven percent compared with the previous year. Despite this increase, the company managed to reduce its data centre emissions by twelve percent, thanks to low-carbon electricity purchases and significant efficiency gains.

Looking more broadly at the business, Google reported an 8% year-over-year reduction in Scope 1 operational emissions and an 11% drop in Scope 2 market-based emissions. However, Scope 3 emissions, which account for supply chain impacts, rose by twenty-two percent.

In 2021, Google announced its ambition to achieve net zero emissions across both its operations and the value chain by 2030. Using 2019 as its baseline year, it pledged to cut emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 by half. To neutralise what remains, the company said it would turn to a variety of carbon removal solutions.

Google states on page 83 of its most recent sustainability report: “Overall, total emissions have grown in recent years alongside the growth of our business and growing product adoption by users around the world. The majority of these emissions are indirect, coming from our supply chain. We’re actively working to bend our emissions curve towards our net-zero ambition.”

In 2021, Google revealed an ambition to achieve net-zero emissions in operations and the value chain by 2030. It set a 2019 baseline year and subsequently confirmed an intention to reduce emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 by 50%, relying on “a range of carbon removal solutions” to neutralize the remaining emissions.