The Hidden Scale Behind Every AI Answer: Billions of Daily Queries are Reshaping Energy and Infrastructure

What happens when you say “Hello” to ChatGPT? • Such a simple query might seem trivial, but making it possible across billions of sessions requires immense scale. While OpenAI reveals little information about its operations, we've used the scraps we do have to estimate the impact of ChatGPT—and of the generative AI industry in general. •OpenAI's actions also provide hints. As part of the United States' Stargate Project, OpenAI will collaborate with other AI titans to build the largest data centers yet. And AI companies expect to need dozens of “Stargate-class” data centers to meet user demand.

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Publication Details

Journal
IEEE Spectrum
Published
2025-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/mspec.2025.11197239
Primary Topic
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The Hidden Scale Behind Every AI Answer: Billions of Daily Queries are Reshaping Energy and Infrastructure

Matthew S. Smith
IEEE Spectrum
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
article

The Hidden Scale Behind Every AI Answer: Billions of Daily Queries are Reshaping Energy and Infrastructure

Matthew S. Smith
article en

Abstract

What happens when you say “Hello” to ChatGPT? • Such a simple query might seem trivial, but making it possible across billions of sessions requires immense scale. While OpenAI reveals little information about its operations, we've used the scraps we do have to estimate the impact of ChatGPT—and of the generative AI industry in general. •OpenAI's actions also provide hints. As part of the United States' Stargate Project, OpenAI will collaborate with other AI titans to build the largest data centers yet. And AI companies expect to need dozens of “Stargate-class” data centers to meet user demand.

IEEE SpectrumVol. 62(10)
Openalex Percentile: Top 67%
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
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The Hidden Scale Behind Every AI Answer: Billions of Daily Queries are Reshaping Energy and Infrastructure — Matthew S. Smith · IEEE Spectrum (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS