OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says 38K ChatGPT queries only use amount of water it takes to grow an almond | Latest Tech News
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said 38,000 ChatGPT queries use only as a lot water as it takes to produce a single almond – shrugging off widespread issues over data facilities’ water usage.
The billionaire tech chief was discussing rampant backlash online against AI firms during an look on a Tuesday episode of the new “Sources” podcast with host Alex Heath.
“You know, I saw this thing going around about the water usage of ChatGPT. And it was like, every time you run a simple ChatGPT query, it’s like you run your shower for like six hours and the water never comes back and just it’s done,” Altman said.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shrugged off widespread issues over data facilities’ water usage. Getty Images
He added that the same amount of water used in the manufacturing of a single almond in California can energy 38,000 ChatGPT queries, though he famous he didn’t have the precise calculations on-hand.
“There’s a question of like where this came from because the people scarfing down 12 almonds at a time don’t feel like they’re doing something horrible from a water perspective, for the most part,” Altman continued.
“It is true that data centers at one point used evaporative cooling, but they have not done that in a long time. Like if you look at a modern, very large data center, it uses, like, the equivalent amount of water as an office building in terms of people, you know, running the sinks and the toilets and whatever.”
He said complaints of data middle water usage online have been a “robust meme” – but argued they don’t “[hold] up to any scrutiny.”
Almonds are widely considered as one of the most water-intensive crops to grow in the US, particularly in California, a state susceptible to droughts.
A single almond takes roughly 1 gallon of water to produce, though that’s from start to end – including the planting and growth of the whole tree, according to the Almond Board of California.
It’s comparable to the amount of water needed to grow other California fruit and nut trees, like pistachios, walnuts and peaches, the nonprofit industry group said.
A single almond takes roughly 1 gallon of water to produce. VictoriaKurylo – stock.adobe.com
The crunchy snack is a pretty widespread selection for Americans, with the average particular person consuming 2.3 kilos of almonds yearly.
Altman has beforehand said that a single ChatGPT question requires 0.3 milliliters of water, or about 1/15 of a teaspoon. There are 3,785.41 milliliters in a gallon – so it’s really more like 3,800 ChatGPT queries have the equal water usage to an almond.
An OpenAI spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached for remark.
It’s potential that Altman’s 0.3 milliliter estimate of water usage is outdated, and it may very well be referencing a time when the data facilities did use evaporative cooling – a technique of decreasing the temperature by releasing cool water vapor.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT is only growing in recognition. As of last summer season, OpenAI said the chatbot was receiving 2.5 billion consumer prompts a day.
Altman has beforehand said that a single ChatGPT question requires 0.3 milliliters of water. Thomas Fuller / SOPA Images via GWN Connect
OpenAI and other tech companies have also been targeted on building more AI brokers, which require a lot more juice than chatbots. AI brokers can remedy more advanced software program issues and are getting used at firms across a slew of industries, including tech, finance and retail.
Neighborhoods around the nation have been revolting against the fast buildout of huge, power-hungry data facilities – complaining of noise, mild and water pollution, and fearful that the rise of AI might eradicate jobs.
On Monday, President Trump urged the nation to embrace data facilities, arguing that communities who reject them will end up “backwards and poor.”
This spring, residents of Fayetteville, Ga., grew outraged after they found a new 6.6 million-square-foot data middle had guzzled up 30 million gallons of water, leaving residents with weak water stress during a drought.
In Morgan County, Ga., residents complained that a close by Meta data middle had tainted their water a muddy brown.
The water downside has reportedly only affected 4 houses in the world, not the whole neighborhood, so it’s potential it was a construction issue – not one thing particular to a data middle.
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