OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has now dismissed the concerns about AI’s: The wider industry impact

OpenAI CEO Sam ​Altman

A 2024 report from a Virginia state government commission — Virginia being a major data center hub — found that while water usage varied significantly between individual facilities, most data centers consumed about the same amount of water as an average large office building, or less.

Speaking on the premiere episode of Alex Heath’s Sources Podcast, Altman argued that while data centers have a reputation for being water guzzlers, most modern facilities use about as much water as a large office building, according to a report by Business Insider. He said producing a single California almond requires more water than is used across thousands of ChatGPT queries combined, adding that people eating a handful of almonds generally don’t feel like they’re doing anything environmentally harmful. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has now dismissed the concerns about AI’s water consumption, calling it a ‘meme’ that doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. Altman’s claim has some real backing. To illustrate his point, Altman compared ChatGPT’s water usage to that of growing almonds in California, a notoriously water-intensive crop.

Water Usage Comparisons: ChatGPT vs. Gemini vs. Almonds

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has stated that an average ChatGPT query consumes approximately 0.32 milliliters of water. In contrast, Google reports that a typical text prompt from its Gemini app uses about 0.26 milliliters. These figures were highlighted in a recent report by Business Insider, which noted that while it could not independently verify Altman’s exact claims, they align with available data. For context, a 2019 study by researchers linked to the U.S. Geological Survey found that cultivating a single almond in California requires an average of 3.56 liters of water, equivalent to just under a gallon per nut.