AI is frequently referred to as a black box, but it’s not only the internal mechanisms that are enigmatic. Top AI firms have kept energy consumption data under wraps, complicating efforts to assess its environmental impact. In a comprehensive inquiry, senior AI journalist James O’Donnell and senior climate journalist Casey Crownhart devoted six months to analyzing numerous report pages, speaking with experts, and calculating figures.
The team investigated the energy expense of a single query and subsequently expanded their analysis to create an overarching view that demonstrated the potential consequences of AI’s present and future energy requirements. Their findings unveiled the substantial energy footprint of AI, the sources of that energy, and who will bear the costs. In the period following the project’s release, leading AI companies such as Open AI, Mistral, and Google disclosed information regarding their models’ energy and water consumption.
The 2026 awards ceremony will take place in New York City on May 19.
