Google says it dropped the energy cost of AI queries by 33x in one year

Google has significantly reduced the energy impact of AI queries through software optimizations. The company's analysis shows a median Gemini text prompt uses just 0.24 watt-hours of energy, with a 33x reduction in energy consumption per prompt achieved in one year through techniques like Mixture-of-Experts and compact model versions. Despite individual requests having minimal impact, the cumulative effect remains substantial as AI operations now accompany every search.