OpenAI will not disclose GPT-5’s energy use. It could be higher than past models
OpenAI’s GPT-5 boasts PhD-level reasoning and multimodal abilities, but the company refuses to disclose its power consumption. Independent benchmarks suggest GPT-5 may use 18–40 watt-hours per 1,000-token response—up to 20 times more than GPT-3. At 2.5 billion daily queries, that could rival the electricity needs of 1.5 million US homes. Researchers urge OpenAI and peers to reveal AI’s environmental costs as model sizes—and energy demands—skyrocket.