A recent viral post highlighted a playful exchange where someone asked how much electricity OpenAI wastes on people saying “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT.
Sam Altman’s reply?
“Tens of millions of dollars well spent—you never know.”
Naturally, I had to run the numbers. 🤓 If:
180 million users say “please” and “thank you” just 10 times a day
Each prompt uses ~0.3Wh
Electricity costs $0.12/kWh
👉 That’s $129,600 per day
👉 Or ~$47.3 million per year
All for a little extra politeness.
What struck me wasn’t just the energy cost—it’s the value of human nature showing up in digital spaces. Even when interacting with AI, we can’t help but be polite. That says something beautiful about how deeply ingrained respect and empathy are in us.
So the question is:
Should we prioritise efficiency—or cherish empathy?
P.S. All these data points were given by ChatGPT itself. Of course. 😄