A Gemini text prompt
Google, May 2025
0.24 Wh
electricity, less than nine seconds of TV
0.26 mL of water, about five drops
In one year, Google made each prompt use 33 times less energy.
How much water and energy does AI use?
A typical Gemini text prompt uses 0.26 mL of water, about five drops, and 0.24 Wh of electricity (Google, May 2025). In Hugging Face's own tests, AI that reasons before answering uses about 30 times more energy (Dec 2025).
One prompt
A ChatGPT question
OpenAI, Jun 2025
0.34 Wh
electricity
0.32 mL
water, about one fifteenth of a teaspoon
Thinking uses far more energy
Energy per answer, measured the same way
Hugging Face AI Energy Score, Dec 2025
No thinking
1×
Thinking model
30×
Turn thinking on in the same model and it uses 150 to 700 times more energy.
All data centers, worldwide
Share of the world's electricity
International Energy Agency, Apr 2026
1.5% · all data centers, 2025
Growth in 2025
International Energy Agency, Apr 2026
+50%
data centers built for AI
+17%
all data centers
Power grids under strain
Data centers' share of Ireland's electricity
Central Statistics Office, Ireland, Jul 2026
All homes, 28%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
11%
14%
18%
21%
22%
23%
Up every year since 2015. All homes together use 28%.
America's biggest grid
PJM Independent Market Monitor, Jul 2026
$29.4B
of the cost of reserving power came from data centers, over four auctions
46%
of the total
Texas
ERCOT, Apr 2026
445.8 GW
asked to connect by big users, about five times the grid's 2026 peak
5.9 GW
connected so far
On 3 Aug 2026, Texas paused new data center hook-ups of 75 MW and up.
| What | Number | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini text prompt, electricity | 0.24 Wh | May 2025 | |
| Gemini text prompt, water (about five drops) | 0.26 mL | May 2025 | |
| Gemini energy per prompt, change in one year | 33 times less | May 2025 | |
| ChatGPT question, electricity | 0.34 Wh | OpenAI | Jun 2025 |
| ChatGPT question, water (printed as 0.000085 gallons) | 0.32 mL | OpenAI | Jun 2025 |
| Energy per answer, thinking models vs no thinking, on average | 30 times more | Hugging Face AI Energy Score | Dec 2025 |
| Energy per answer, same model with thinking on vs off | 150 to 700 times more | Hugging Face AI Energy Score | Dec 2025 |
| Share of the world's electricity used by all data centers, 2025 | 1.5% | International Energy Agency | Apr 2026 |
| Growth in 2025, data centers built for AI | +50% | International Energy Agency | Apr 2026 |
| Growth in 2025, all data centers | +17% | International Energy Agency | Apr 2026 |
| Data centers' share of Ireland's electricity, 2015 to 2025 | 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 18, 21, 22, 23% | Central Statistics Office, Ireland | Jul 2026 |
| All homes' share of Ireland's electricity, 2025 | 28% | Central Statistics Office, Ireland | Jul 2026 |
| Cost of reserving power in PJM that came from data centers, over four auctions | $29.4B | PJM Independent Market Monitor | Jul 2026 |
| Share of that cost from data centers | 46% | PJM Independent Market Monitor | Jul 2026 |
| Texas: connection requests from big users | 445.8 GW | ERCOT | Apr 2026 |
| Texas: big users connected so far | 5.9 GW | ERCOT | Apr 2026 |
| Texas: new data center hook-ups of 75 MW and up paused | 3 Aug 2026 | ERCOT | Aug 2026 |
Sources (8)
- Google, cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/measuring-the-environmental-impact-of-ai-in…
- OpenAI, blog.samaltman.com/the-gentle-singularity
- Hugging Face, huggingface.co/blog/sasha/ai-energy-score-v2
- International Energy Agency, iea.org/reports/key-questions-on-energy-and-ai
- Central Statistics Office, Ireland, cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-dcmec/datacentresmeteredelectricityconsumption2025…
- PJM Independent Market Monitor, monitoringanalytics.com/reports/Presentations/2026/IMM_MC_Market_Monitor_Report_20260728.…
- ERCOT, ercot.com/files/docs/2026/05/13/ERCOT-Monthly-April-2026-FINAL.pdf
- ERCOT, ercot.com/files/docs/2026/09/11/14-Batch-Zero-Update.pdf