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GlossaryHardwareNew to AI

Gigawatts

Also written: GW, Exabytes, 10-gigawatt commitment, Gigawatts-IT, 1GW, Gigawatt-scale

A unit of electrical power equal to one billion watts, used to measure the energy needed for AI data centers.

In plain terms

Gigawatts (GW) measure a massive amount of electrical power. Think of it like the total power output of a large power plant. This unit is now frequently used to talk about the huge energy demands of artificial intelligence.

AI models, especially large ones like those from OpenAI or Anthropic, require enormous amounts of electricity to run. This power is needed for the specialized computer chips that perform calculations. Companies are building or renting huge data centers filled with these chips, and their combined energy needs can reach gigawatt levels.

The expert version

A gigawatt (GW) is a unit of power equal to one billion watts (10^9 W). In the context of AI, it quantifies the immense electrical power consumption of large-scale computing infrastructure, particularly data centers housing AI accelerators. This scale reflects the substantial energy required for both training and operating advanced AI models, driving significant investments in power generation and data center capacity.

Why it matters now

Frontier AI labs are increasingly focused on securing massive amounts of electrical power, measured in gigawatts, to fuel their rapidly expanding AI models and data centers. Recent deals show companies like Anthropic and Microsoft making significant commitments for gigawatt-scale compute capacity, highlighting the immense energy demands of advanced AI development.

Where it shows up 26 items, newest first
How each company uses it
Anthropic Claude
Anthropic is making large commitments for gigawatts of compute capacity through deals with AWS and Google, aiming to scale its Claude AI models.
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft is expanding its AI capacity with new datacenters, such as a 2 GW campus in Pecos, Texas, to support AI development.
OpenAI ChatGPT
OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft involves scaling its AI platform, which implies significant energy requirements that are likely measured in gigawatts.
Related terms

data centerAI acceleratorcompute powerenergy consumptionpower plantwatt

Often confused with
Gigabyte (GB)
A unit of digital information storage, not power.
Megawatt (MW)
A smaller unit of power, equal to one million watts, often used f
Kilowatt (kW)
A much smaller unit of power, equal to one thousand watts, common
Origin

The term 'gigawatt' originates from the metric system, combining the prefix 'giga-' (meaning billion) with 'watt,' the standard unit of power named after engineer James Watt. It has long been used to describe the output of large power plants.

Try this about 5 minutes

To understand power scale, look up the typical power output of a large nuclear or coal power plant online. Then, search for the energy consumption of a major city. Comparing these figures to the gigawatt commitments for AI can illustrate the immense scale involved.

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Questions people ask

How much electricity is a gigawatt?
A gigawatt is one billion watts. It's a massive amount of electrical power, comparable to what a large power plant generates.
Why is AI using so much power?
Training and running advanced AI models requires vast numbers of specialized computer chips working simultaneously, consuming significant amounts of electricity.

First seen on Subvolts Jul 22, 2025. Updated Oct 12, 2026. Written by an AI model from the items above and reviewed against them weekly; report an error.