Welcome to Tech Minute. Today we’re asking: How much energy does AI really use? It turns out nobody’s quite sure. In a recent WIRED deep dive, reporters reveal that companies guard the numbers on data-center power like trade secrets. We know a single ChatGPT query uses about 0.34 watt-hours of energy—“about what an oven would use in a little over one second, or a high-efficiency lightbulb would use in a couple of minutes,” as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explained. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Training massive models can consume hundreds of megawatt-hours and require racks of specialized chips. Major cloud providers publish only broad totals, making it impossible for researchers to nail down AI’s true carbon footprint. Critics warn that with AI demand set to explode, the industry must open its books or risk unchecked emissions. Until then, the real cost of our digital assistant remains shrouded in mystery.
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