‘I wonder how much money OpenAI has lost in electricity costs from people saying “please” and “thank you” to their models.’

This is a question that someone recently posed on X about ChatGPT, OpenAI’s virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

And the answer is ‘tens of millions of dollars’, according to OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.

‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ are about as British as you can get. Eight in 10 Britons are friendly to AI chatbots.

But being polite to AI comes at a cost – and not just financially.

ChatGPT gulps 39.16million gallons of water a day

Every time you ask ChatGPT to write an email, rip apart your Instagram profile or plan your monthly budget, it uses energy.

And this bot’s electricity bills are an estimated 40million kilowatt-hours every day.

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