If you find yourself saying “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT, you’re not alone—and you might be costing OpenAI more than you think. A recent comment by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that user politeness contributes to “tens of millions of dollars” in electricity costs, due to the computational effort involved in generating those extra conversational responses.
Responding to a query on X (formerly Twitter) by user @tomieinlove, who mused about how much the company might be spending on polite exchanges, Altman replied: “Tens of millions of dollars well spent.”
He added: “You never know.”
The human touch in AI chats
Altman’s remark underscores a unique aspect of AI-human interaction. Despite AI being non-sentient, many users instinctively extend social courtesies like “please” and “thank you” during chats with ChatGPT. The phenomenon illustrates how deeply AI tools have integrated into our daily lives.
These responses might seem insignificant but they make using AI a touch more humane.
Running ChatGPT isn’t cheap
Behind every polite response lies a high-performance AI model powered by energy-hungry data centers. These facilities consume vast amounts of electricity—not only for computing but also for the cooling systems required to prevent hardware from overheating.
As AI tools grow in popularity, Altman’s remarks raise awareness of their environmental footprint. Every message, meme, or friendly back-and-forth with ChatGPT contributes to a global network of servers constantly working to keep up with demand.
Premium users and paid politeness
Premium users, who pay for access to faster or more capable versions of ChatGPT, might be wondering if their “thank you” carries more weight. Since these users are billed based on tokens—essentially, word count—every extra phrase adds to their cost.
While the energy cost of politeness may raise eyebrows, Altman’s response signals that OpenAI sees value beyond just efficiency. The CEO seems to accept the financial and environmental toll as part of the company’s mission to build AI that feels intuitive and natural to interact with.
So if you’re feeling polite next time you use ChatGPT, don’t hold back. As Altman said: “Tens of millions of dollars well spent.”
Social media reacts to OpenAI’s ChatGPT energy costs
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s admission that polite interactions with ChatGPT contribute to tens of millions of dollars in electricity costs has sparked a wave of witty and wary responses on social media platform X. While the revelation raised eyebrows, many users chose humor—and a touch of paranoia—to process the news.
One user quipped, “That’s a small price to pay to feel safe, when the apocalypse comes.” The tongue-in-cheek remark captures a sentiment echoed across multiple posts: being kind to AI may someday pay off in unexpected ways.
Echoing similar fears, another user joked, “We just want to ensure Skynet remembers we were polite as it decides if to use us as batteries or not.” This allusion to The Matrix and Terminator franchises suggests a cultural anxiety about AI dominance that’s creeping into daily digital habits.
Another user added, “You never know if… they will appreciate it on Terminator 2 Judgment Day…?”
Not everyone was ready to embrace the looming AI apocalypse. One user pointed out, “I feel this can be solved incredibly easily with client side code answering ‘you’re welcome’ lol,” suggesting a technical fix.
Another user highlighted the growing human tendency to AI. “I talk to ChatGPT as if I were having a conversation,” the user admitted, while another confessed, “My fear of my AI bot getting mad at me for being rude is confirmed.”
Some framed politeness as a long-term investment: “When AI dominates the world, he/she would respect people who always appreciated its work,” speculated one user. Another agreed, saying, “It’s a necessary investment in case of the AI taking over the world. Maybe Skynet won’t kill those who showed a bit of courtesy.”
Another user summed up the general vibe with a simple, ominous reminder: “Just to be safe, be nice to your AI.”
And in perhaps the most extreme example of digital deference, one user admitted, “Besides ‘thank you’ and ‘please’, I always add ‘my master’.”