How much energy does an AI query use? What we can and can't know
An honest guide to AI energy use per query — what providers disclose, what researchers estimate, what remains unknown, and how EcoRouter models it.
7 min read
Sustainable AI
AI's environmental footprint is real, growing and widely discussed — and it is also one of the easiest subjects to get wrong. Figures for a single AI request range across orders of magnitude depending on the model, the hardware, the data center and what is being counted, and most providers do not expose request-level measurements at all.
This section takes an evidence-first approach. We separate three kinds of numbers that are often blurred together: values that are actually measured, estimates produced by a stated model with known limits, and claims that cannot yet be supported. We summarize credible public research, explain the methods behind common estimates, and point out where an impressive-sounding number rests on assumptions a reader should know about.
We hold EcoRouter to the same standard. EcoRouter does not measure electricity, carbon or water; where it shows an energy figure, it is a modeled estimate with a published methodology and stated confidence. Articles here explain what that means, and what it does not, so that efficiency claims stay checkable rather than persuasive. The full method is on the methodology page.
Smarter AI starts with a better route.
Explore a more efficient way to use artificial intelligence with EcoRouter: it reuses useful knowledge when possible and routes new questions to the most efficient AI capable of answering them.