Sam Altman commented on common claims about high water consumption in AI infrastructure
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman commented on the environmental impact of artificial intelligence during his speech at an Indian Express event in India. He was in the country as part of a large summit dedicated to AI.
What is known
Altman stated that the widespread claims on the internet about significant water consumption of ChatGPT are false. According to him, the issue of water usage was relevant earlier when evaporative cooling was used in data centers. Currently, as noted by the OpenAI leader, such technology is not used, and data like "17 gallons of water per query" is inaccurate.
At the same time, he noted that the issue of overall energy consumption due to the active use of artificial intelligence is a topic of discussion. Altman expressed the opinion that there is a need for a faster transition to nuclear energy, as well as wind and solar power sources.
Currently, tech companies are not obligated to disclose the volumes of energy and water consumption, so researchers conduct independent assessments. Data centers are also linked to rising electricity prices in certain regions.
Commenting on claims that one query to ChatGPT can equal 1.5 iPhone battery charges, Altman said this does not correspond to real figures. He also stated that comparing the energy costs of training the model to a person's cost per query is incorrect and suggested assessing AI energy consumption after the training phase is complete.
Source: The Indian Express
