Command A Environmental Impact
Enterprise RAG and agent model — 256K context, 23 languages
- Architecture
- Dense Transformer (RAG-optimised)
- Parameters
- 111B
- Context
- 256,000 tokens
- Provider
- Cohere
Energy per query
1.3 Wh
4x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
0.46 g
US East (Virginia) grid (450 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
2 mL
~417 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
Cloud (US / EU / Asia)
Provider
Cohere
Category
Text / Chat
Grid carbon intensity
450 g CO2/kWh (25% renewable)
How does Command A compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
Command A is a 111B-parameter enterprise model optimised for RAG, agents, and tool use across 23 languages. At ~1.3 Wh per query, it runs on just 2 GPUs — making it efficient for enterprise deployments. It was designed as a cost-effective alternative to frontier models for business applications.
Power Source & Carbon
Cohere offers deployment across multiple cloud providers and regions, including private cloud deployments. This gives enterprises control over which grid powers their inference.
Water Usage
At ~2.4 mL per query, typical for a model of this size on cloud infrastructure.
About Command A
Command A is a 111B-parameter text and chat model from Cohere, released March 13, 2025. Enterprise RAG and agent model — 256K context, 23 languages. At 1.3 Wh per query, it uses 4x the energy of a Google search. It runs on a Dense Transformer (RAG-optimised) architecture.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — Cohere has not published official energy data for Command A. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
Command A in Context
Your yearly Command A footprint
At 25 queries per day, your annual Command A usage consumes 11.9 kWh — roughly what a fridge uses in a month. That produces 4.2 kg of CO₂.
What does your Command A usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use Command A.
Calculate My ComputeFrequently Asked Questions
How much energy does Command A use per query?
Each Command A query consumes approximately 1.3 Wh of energy. This is 4x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is Command A's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of Cloud (US / EU / Asia), each query produces approximately 0.46 g of CO2. The grid in this region has a carbon intensity of 450 g CO2/kWh with 25% renewable energy.
How much water does Command A use?
Each query consumes approximately 2 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does Command A compare to a Google search?
A Command A query uses 4x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while Command A uses 1.3 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Dense Transformer (RAG-optimised)
Parameters
111B
Context window
256,000 tokens
Release date
2025-03-13
Open source
No
Training data cutoff
2025-02