By bringing 134 published estimates back to the same measuring area, TokWatt sets reference values on six orders of magnitude, from the simple response to the generated video.
How much energy does an AI query consume? The figures published for a single chatbot response vary by a factor of a hundred, mainly because the studies do not measure the same scope or unit of work. TokWatt, an open database, brings together 134 estimates from 13 sources published between 2023 and 2026, covering 20 tasks, and documents for each what was counted: functional unit, five perimeter components, method and interval.
A repeatable procedure brings all values back to the same perimeter, including server and building. The result: 0.34 Wh for a short chat response (range 0.16 to 0.99 Wh), 4.7 Wh for a reasoned response, 124 Wh for a short video clip, and 150 Wh for a task assigned to a programming agent. Five independent estimates for chatbots in production agree to within a factor of 1.8, and the values move by no more than 12% if the harmonization assumptions are changed.
The author proposes a simple rule for moving from use to the electricity grid: E watt-hours per person per day, multiplied by a billion users, equivalent to an average power of E/24 gigawatts. Data, code and online calculator are published.
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