OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that the polite use of phrases like “please” and “thank you” in interactions with ChatGPT costs the company tens of millions in electricity due to the high energy demands of AI systems, which consume 40 million kilowatt-hours daily and 39.16 million gallons of water. While being polite may feel natural, studies suggest it adds unnecessary complexity to AI prompts, increasing operational costs without enhancing performance.
