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How Much Energy Does AI Use? The People Who Know Aren’t Saying


A growing body of research attempts to put a number on energy use and AI—even as the companies behind the most popular models keep their carbon emissions a secret.

Maximilian Dauner, a PhD student at the Munich University of Applied Sciences and the study’s lead author, says he hopes AI use will evolve to think about how to more efficiently use less-energy-intensive models for different queries. Large data centers need cooling systems, light, and networking equipment, which all add on more energy; they often run in diurnal cycles, taking a break at night when queries are lower. Bashir compares studies that look at emissions from AI queries without factoring in data center needs to lifting up a car, hitting the gas, and counting revolutions of a wheel as a way of doing a fuel-efficiency test.

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