Sam Altman has made a surprising revelation.
He revealed that a simple gesture by the users was costing them millions of dollars.
Tens of millions of dollars have been spent in electricity costs from people saying 'please' and 'thank you' to ChatGPT.
Recently, when the Ghibli trend went viral, there was a huge surge in ChatGPT users, both trying to generate their pictures and otherwise. At that time, Sam Altman came forward and asked people to cut down on their image generation needs as it was literally melting down their servers. And now, Altman has made another surprising revelation. He revealed that a simple gesture by the users was costing them millions of dollars. In a recent social media exchange, Altman confirmed that phrases like “please” and “thank you” used by ChatGPT users are indirectly costing OpenAI millions of dollars in operational expenses.
A user on X (formerly Twitter) curiously asked Altman, “How much money OpenAI has lost in electricity costs from people saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to their models?” To this, Altman replied, “Tens of millions of dollars well spent.” He further cheekily added, “You never know.”
His response here highlights the growing energy and infrastructure demands tied to large language models like ChatGPT, especially as their usage skyrockets. Each user interaction, no matter how small, adds to the computational load, increasing energy usage and costs.
With the increased usage of ChatGPT, the average weekly active user number has crossed 150 million. A Goldman Sachs report estimates each ChatGPT-4 query consumes 2.9 watt-hours of electricity, around ten times more than a standard Google search. With over a billion queries processed daily, this results in nearly 2.9 million kilowatt-hours consumed each day.
While people are adapting to AI and using it more for their day-to-day activities. The energy requirements are also increasing to keep up with the demands.
Some netizens were also quick to help Altman with possible solutions. One user said that OpenAI could save on electricity with client-side code responding with a simple “You’re welcome.” Another joked that ChatGPT should stop ending every response with a question to save power.
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Mustafa Khan
Mustafa is a young tech journalist who tells it like it is, cutting through buzzwords to deliver straightforward smartphone reviews. He’s the office go-to for insider tips and quick demos, and his video content doesn’t waste anyone’s time. When he’s off the clock, he geeks out over cars, photography, and hunting down the best spot for Indian food. View Full Profile
