Being Polite to ChatGPT costs OpenAI millions, Sam Altman says
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that being polite to ChatGPT, such as saying “please” and “thank you,” contributes to millions of dollars in operational costs, Yahoo reported. Responding to a user query on X (formerly Twitter), Altman noted that these expenses amount to “tens of millions of dollars well spent,” highlighting the significant energy consumption behind each AI interaction.
Every ChatGPT query requires substantial real-time computing power, driving up electricity use. According to Goldman Sachs, a single GPT-4 query consumes about ten times more electricity than a standard Google search. Data suggests that if 17 million Americans each used GPT-4 once weekly for a year, the electricity required would equal that used by all households in Washington, D.C., over 20 days.
AI’s energy demand is growing rapidly, with ARM Holdings’ CEO warning that AI could represent 25% of U.S. power consumption by 2030, up from 4% today. Additionally, cooling servers consumes significant water; generating 100 words with GPT-4 uses up to three bottles of water, with even short polite replies consuming measurable amounts.
