Saying 'please' and 'thank you' to ChatGPT costs OpenAI millions, Sam Altman says

Being polite to your AI assistant may feel like good manners, but it’s also surprisingly expensive. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed that polite messages like “please” and “thank you” sent to ChatGPT cost the company tens of millions of dollars in operational expenses.

Altman was responding to a light-hearted question on X (formerly Twitter) about how much electricity is wasted on people being courteous to AI. His reply — “Tens of millions of dollars well spent — you never know” — suggests that while the figure might be loosely estimated, the underlying cost is real. Every message, no matter how small, triggers a full model response using powerful servers and real-time processing.

GPT-4 in particular consumes around 10 times more electricity per query than a Google search, which significantly increases energy usage. If just 10% of American workers used GPT-4 once a week for a year, the total power consumption would match what Washington, D.C. households use in 20 days, according to data from The Washington Post.

The environmental cost goes beyond electricity. AI models like GPT-4 require extensive cooling systems, often using water to prevent server overheating. A study from the University of California, Riverside, found that generating just 100 words with GPT-4 can consume the equivalent of three bottles of water. Even a short response like “You are welcome” could use about 1.5 ounces of water.

With AI continuing to grow, experts warn the strain on resources will increase. ARM Holdings CEO Rene Haas estimates that AI alone could account for 25% of the U.S.’s total power consumption by 2030, up from just 4% today.

So, while kindness is free in principle — with AI, it turns out it’s not free in practice.