DeepSeek-V3.2 Environmental Impact
IMO/IOI gold medalist — first model with RL-based agent training
- Architecture
- Mixture-of-Experts with integrated reasoning and tool use
- Parameters
- 671B
- Context
- 128,000 tokens
- Provider
- DeepSeek
Energy per query
5.5 Wh
18x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
3.0 g
China grid (550 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
20 mL
~49 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
DeepSeek Cloud (China) / self-hosted
Provider
DeepSeek
Category
Text / Chat
Grid carbon intensity
550 g CO2/kWh (30% renewable)
How does DeepSeek-V3.2 compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
DeepSeek-V3.2 integrates thinking into tool use and is the first model trained with RL across 1,800+ environments for agentic tasks. At ~5.5 Wh per query, it competes with GPT-5. The Speciale variant uses extended reasoning and won gold at IMO 2026, IOI 2026, and ICPC World Finals.
Power Source & Carbon
DeepSeek's API runs on Chinese infrastructure (550 g CO2/kWh). Open-source (MIT) and widely self-hosted globally on cleaner grids.
About DeepSeek-V3.2
DeepSeek-V3.2 is a 671B-parameter text and chat model from DeepSeek, released December 1, 2025. IMO/IOI gold medalist — first model with RL-based agent training. At 5.5 Wh per query, it uses 18x the energy of a Google search. It runs on a Mixture-of-Experts with integrated reasoning and tool use architecture.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — DeepSeek has not published official energy data for DeepSeek-V3.2. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
DeepSeek-V3.2 in Context
The efficiency alternative
Gemini Nano performs the same type of task using just 0.01 Wh per query — 100% less energy than DeepSeek-V3.2. For a user sending 25 queries per day, switching would save 50.1 kWh per year.
Your yearly DeepSeek-V3.2 footprint
At 25 queries per day, your annual DeepSeek-V3.2 usage consumes 50.2 kWh — a meaningful fraction of household electricity. That produces 27.6 kg of CO₂.
Key Insights
DeepSeek DeepSeek Family
How energy efficiency has evolved across versions.
What does your DeepSeek-V3.2 usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use DeepSeek-V3.2.
Calculate My ComputeFrequently Asked Questions
How much energy does DeepSeek-V3.2 use per query?
Each DeepSeek-V3.2 query consumes approximately 5.5 Wh of energy. This is 18x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is DeepSeek-V3.2's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of DeepSeek Cloud (China) / self-hosted, each query produces approximately 3.0 g of CO2. The grid in this region has a carbon intensity of 550 g CO2/kWh with 30% renewable energy.
How much water does DeepSeek-V3.2 use?
Each query consumes approximately 20 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does DeepSeek-V3.2 compare to a Google search?
A DeepSeek-V3.2 query uses 18x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while DeepSeek-V3.2 uses 5.5 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Mixture-of-Experts with integrated reasoning and tool use
Parameters
671B
Context window
128,000 tokens
Release date
2025-12-01
Open source
Yes
Training data cutoff
2025-11