ChatGPT consumes 10 times more energy per request than Google search
Actively increasing capacity for AI training requires more and more energy. According to some estimates, at this rate, by 2030 this industry could consume a quarter of all US electricity.
Arm CEO Rene Haas made this statement. He said that consumption of the AI industry in the US has grown by a quarter, and now we are talking about 4% of the country's total capacity.
Of course, newer chips are becoming more energy efficient, but so far the demand for such accelerators is growing non-stop.
An earlier International Energy Agency report found that ChatGPT consumes approximately 2.9 Wh of electricity per query, which is 10 times more than Google's existing search engine requires. Thus, if Google were to completely replace the hardware and software of its search engine, Google alone would consume at least 11 TWh of electricity per year.
Tom’s Hardware says the US Energy Information Administration shared data that the US produced a total of 4.24 trillion kWh of energy in 2022, of which 22% accounted for renewable energy sources. The country's total consumption is 3.9 trillion kWh.