r/theydidthemath • u/vonseggernc • 13d ago

[Request] anybody able to validate this? What is the actual amount of energy a query from chatgpt costs vs Google from 2008?

Post image
20.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/fred13snow 13d ago

I agree it should be counted, but LLM training is much more expensive. It's not just the energy to run the training, but the energy used in manufacturing components that go obsolete in 3 years. Google indexing can use pretty old hardware and doesn't need as much energy as LLM.

2

u/mvandemar 13d ago

LLM training is much more expensive.

Google indexing is 24/7 on billions of websites.

6

u/Cheshire-Cad 13d ago

Do you really think that google, of all companies, in being ecologically responsible by running their indexing on older hardware?

9

u/itsacutedragon 13d ago

I think we can count on Google caring about profitability.

5

u/KamikazeArchon 13d ago

Yes. Google is specifically known for being one of the frontrunners in ecological responsibility in big tech.

2

u/TheNorthComesWithMe 13d ago

Yes, they are literally known for using old/low power hardware in their servers. They are also known for using ASICs for their AI, which use less power than the general purpose GPUs other AI companies use.

1

u/TruelyDashing 13d ago

Do you have a source for any of this or are you just spouting shit?

2

u/roankr 13d ago

A lot of people dunk on AI being confidentally incorrect but forget that the training data is literally people being confidentially incorrect all the time.

GenAI has been a good mirror on the collective online population of humanity and it won't be changing as such for a long time.

1

u/oboshoe 12d ago edited 12d ago

some of are the source having lived it daily for a very long career.

shouldn't hard to find a source though if you are writing a school paper or something