GPT-5.2 Environmental Impact
Three-tier model with Instant/Thinking/Pro reasoning levels
- Architecture
- Multimodal Transformer with adaptive reasoning
- Context
- 256,000 tokens
- Provider
- OpenAI
Energy per query
5.0 Wh
17x more than a Google search (0.3 Wh)
CO2 per query
2.2 g
US East (Virginia) grid (450 gCO₂/kWh)
Water per query
18 mL
~56 queries to fill 1 litre
Processing location
Azure / Multi-cloud
Provider
OpenAI
Category
Text / Chat
Grid carbon intensity
450 g CO2/kWh (25% renewable)
How does GPT-5.2 compare?
Detailed Breakdown
Energy Consumption
GPT-5.2 introduced three reasoning tiers: Instant (~1 Wh), Thinking (~5 Wh), and Pro (~15 Wh). We report the Thinking tier as the default. The Pro tier uses extended chain-of-thought similar to o3 and can consume 3x the Thinking tier for complex problems.
Power Source & Carbon
Runs on OpenAI's multi-cloud infrastructure across Azure, AWS, and GCP.
Water Usage
At ~18 mL per Thinking-tier query. The adaptive tier system lets users choose an efficiency/capability trade-off.
About GPT-5.2
GPT-5.2 is a text and chat model from OpenAI, released in December 11, 2025. Three-tier model with Instant/Thinking/Pro reasoning levels. Each query uses 5.0 Wh of energy and produces 2.2 g of CO₂. That's 17x the energy of a Google search — reflecting the computational demands of text and chat.
These figures are estimates derived from hardware specifications and API benchmarks — OpenAI has not published official energy data for GPT-5.2. Actual consumption may vary significantly depending on batching, quantisation, and infrastructure optimisations that we cannot observe from outside.
GPT-5.2 in Context
The efficiency alternative
Gemini Nano performs the same type of task using just 0.01 Wh per query — 100% less energy than GPT-5.2. For a user sending 25 queries per day, switching would save 45.5 kWh per year.
At global scale
With an estimated 10M+ daily users averaging 10 queries each, GPT-5.2 consumes roughly 500 MWh of electricity per day — enough to power 16667 homes.
Your yearly GPT-5.2 footprint
At 25 queries per day, your annual GPT-5.2 usage consumes 45.6 kWh — roughly what a fridge uses in a month. That produces 19.9 kg of CO₂.
OpenAI GPT Family
How energy efficiency has evolved across versions.
What does your GPT-5.2 usage cost the planet?
Use our calculator to estimate your personal environmental footprint based on how often you use GPT-5.2.
Calculate My ComputeFrequently Asked Questions
How much energy does GPT-5.2 use per query?
Each GPT-5.2 query consumes approximately 5.0 Wh of energy. This is 17x more than a traditional Google search (~0.3 Wh).
What is GPT-5.2's carbon footprint?
Based on the carbon intensity of Azure / Multi-cloud, each query produces approximately 2.2 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 GPT-5.2 use?
Each query consumes approximately 18 mL of water, primarily used for cooling the data centers that process the request.
How does GPT-5.2 compare to a Google search?
A GPT-5.2 query uses 17x more than a Google search in terms of energy. A Google search uses approximately 0.3 Wh, while GPT-5.2 uses 5.0 Wh.
Technical Details
Architecture
Multimodal Transformer with adaptive reasoning
Context window
256,000 tokens
Release date
2025-12-11
Open source
No
Training data cutoff
2025-10