Sam Altman claims that 38,000 ChatGPT queries consume as much water as it takes to produce a single almond in California
The executive responded to criticism regarding the environmental impact of artificial intelligence and questioned comparisons that portray ChatGPT as a technology with high water consumption.
Sam Altman.
The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, stated that approximately 38,000 ChatGPT queries use an amount of water equivalent to that needed to produce a single almond in California, while defending the water consumption of the data centers that support artificial intelligence systems.
Altman made the statement during the inaugural episode of the Sources podcast, hosted by Alex Heath. The executive responded to criticism regarding the environmental impact of artificial intelligence and questioned comparisons that portray ChatGPT as a technology with high water consumption.
"I don’t have the exact calculation in front of me, but I think the real number is something like... for every 38,000 ChatGPT queries, that is the same amount of water that is used in the production of a single almond in California," Altman said.
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Meanwhile, an analysis published by CalMatters noted that there are too many variables to establish a precise equivalence between a ChatGPT query and an almond. These include the location of the data center, the outside temperature, the cooling system used, the length of the query, and the amount of processing each request requires.
Altman has also rejected the idea that today's data centers consume enormous amounts of water due to their cooling systems. According to the executive, data centers used evaporative cooling systems in the past, but he assured that modern facilities no longer operate that way.
"For example, years ago we were evaporating water to cool these systems. They needed tremendous amounts of water. And now we use these closed loop systems and a modern data center uses only as much water as like an office building would for the kitchen and the bathrooms," Altman said in an episode of Invest Like the Best.
The figure of 38,000 queries also contrasts with another statistic previously provided by Altman. The CEO of OpenAI had estimated that a ChatGPT query used about 0.32 milliliters of water. Meanwhile, estimates of the water needed to produce an almond in California put the figure at several liters, although there are also differences depending on the methodology used.
California seeks to regulate data center water consumption
One of the measures would require data center operators to detail their water sources and the volume they consume when applying for business permits. The second would prevent local authorities from authorizing the construction of new data centers if their developers do not first submit their water supply plans. In addition, operators would have to bear the cost of any necessary improvements to local infrastructure to ensure their connection to the water supply.
This is the second attempt by Papan, a Democrat from San Mateo, to push for regulations that increase transparency regarding water use by data centers. Last year, Newsom vetoed a previous proposal by the lawmaker, arguing that it was not advisable to establish strict reporting requirements without first understanding the impact they would have on businesses and consumers of these technologies.
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