Monday, August 25, 2025
HomeBusinessGoogle finally reveals what its AI really consumes (and it's less than...

Google finally reveals what its AI really consumes (and it’s less than 9 seconds of TV)

Published on

reading min

Last week, an external study revealed the colossal energy consumption of GPT-5. The response of his main rival was not long in coming. In an unprecedented transparency operation, Google published official consumption figures for its Gemini AI on August 21. But while the company announces a derisory impact, experts denounce “misleading” figures which would only show “the emerged part of the iceberg”. Dive into the heart of the new war of energy communication.

Summarize this article with:

Google breaks the taboo and reveals surprisingly low figures

This is a first that could change the face of industry. In an article published on his blog, Google has become the first tech giant to reveal in detail the imprint of its AI. Depending on the company, the impact of an average text request on Gemini is minimal:

  • 0.24 watthats (wh) the owl): Less energy than what a television consumes in nine seconds.
  • 0.26 Millilitre (ml) of water: The equivalent of five drops of water for cooling.
  • 0.03 gram of CO2E: An almost zero carbon footprint.

“The tip of the iceberg”: the experts denounce deceived figures

Barely published, these figures have reacted several experts, including Shaolei Ren and Alex de Vries-Gao, cited by the American media The Verge, who qualify this communication as “deceived”. According to them, Google omits whole sections of actual consumption.

“Indirect” water: the great forgotten

According to The Verge, the figure of 0.26 ml represents only the water used to cool the servers on site. Google completely omits the consumption of “indirect” water, that is to say the water necessary for the cooling of power plants (gas, nuclear) which feed these same servers.

“You only see the tip of the iceberg,” said Alex de Vries-Gao, which recalls that this indirect consumption represents the majority of the water footprint of a data center.

CO2 emissions calculated to the most advantageous

Experts also point to a bias in the calculation of CO2 emissions. Google communicates only on a “Market-Based” measure, which takes into account its purchases of renewable energy to artificially lower the average.

They omit the “rental-based” measure, recommended by international standards, which reflects the real emissions of the local electricity network where the data center is connected. For Shaolei Ren, it is “the truth on the ground”.

The paradox of efficiency: real gains, but a total consumption that explodes

Despite these criticisms, Google defends itself by highlighting a complete mastery of its production chain, “from the chip to the data center”. The 2025 Environmental Report CLOSED This strategy, revealing that the latest generation of IA chips of the company, named Ironwood, is Almost 30 times more efficient that the first version of 2018.

However, as The Verge points out, these efficiency gains are caught up in the “Jevons paradox”: the more efficient and cheap service, the more it is used, and its overall consumption explodes.

Google’s own figures confirm this: despite the more sober AI, the global emissions of the company linked to its climatic ambitions have increased by 51% since 2019. “If you look at the total figures Google publishes, the situation is in fact very bad,” concludes Alex de Vries-Gao. “It is not the whole story that is told”.

The war of transparency is declared

By being the first to publish data, even criticized, Google is launching a pavement in the pond and puts pressure on its competitors, in particular Openai and Anthropic, so that they in turn reveal the real imprint of their models. The most powerful Battle for AI is now coupled with a war of communication and energy transparency.

Have you found this article useful?

0% of 0 votes find the information useful.

paisley.monroe
paisley.monroe
Paisley’s Nashville culture beat melds thrift-store fashion hauls with deep dives into songwriting royalties.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
RELATED ARTICLES

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Recent Comments