Altman Defends AI's Thirst: "Humans Use Energy Too

"ChatGPT uses gallons of water per query? That's completely untrue, totally insane."

Sam Altman didn't mince words when defending AI's environmental impact at India's AI summit. The OpenAI CEO's counterargument was surprisingly simple: humans consume energy too.

The Water Wars

Altman dismissed viral claims about ChatGPT's water consumption as having "no connection to reality." He's technically right about newer data centers—some don't use water cooling at all. Traditional centers do gulp water to prevent servers from overheating, but technology is evolving.

Yet the numbers tell a different story. A report from Xylem and Global Water Intelligence projects that cooling water demand will more than triple over the next 25 years as computing needs explode. That's pressure on water systems worldwide.

The Human vs. AI Efficiency Showdown

Here's where Altman's argument gets interesting. "It takes like 20 years of life, and all the food you eat before that time, before you get smart," he said, comparing human "training" costs to AI model development.

His point: once trained, AI might already be more energy-efficient than humans at answering the same questions. It's the difference between the massive upfront cost of training and the relatively modest energy needed for "inference"—when AI generates responses.

Reality Check: The Numbers Don't Lie

But here's what the efficiency debate misses. According to the International Monetary Fund, global data center electricity consumption in 2023 already matched entire countries like Germany or France. That was just after ChatGPT's launch.

Local communities are pushing back hard. San Marcos, Texas, just voted down a $1.5 billion data center project after months of resident opposition over grid strain and rising electricity costs.

The Billionaire Backlash

Sridhar Vembu, co-founder of Indian software giant Zoho Corporation, was present at the summit and didn't hold back his criticism. "I do not want to see a world where we equate a piece of technology to a human being," the billionaire posted on X.

It's a sentiment that captures growing anxiety about AI's role in society—and whether we're losing sight of human value in the efficiency race.