5 September 2026
Altman disputes viral claim about ChatGPT's water consumption
First reported
Tom's Hardware ran this on , 2 days before the next source picked it up.
- A widespread claim stated one ChatGPT query uses as much water as a six-hour shower. Altman said this significantly overstates actual usage.
- Altman estimated 38,000 ChatGPT queries use roughly as much water as growing one almond, which takes about 1.1 gallons. Researchers suggest the actual number ranges from 85 to 5,500 queries per almond.
- Modern data centers use liquid cooling systems that consume water at rates similar to office buildings or restaurants, not the evaporative cooling methods that used far more water in older facilities.
- Some US data centers have faced serious water consumption issues, with one Georgia site using 29 million gallons over 15 months and affecting neighbors' water quality.
How it was covered
Prompt Engineering DailyAadit Sheth
TIME published Altman's interview where he stated OpenAI had missteps and fell behind due to distraction from ChatGPT's consumer success. This raw, transparent approach resonated similarly to Farza's vulnerability, showing that brands gain credibility by publicly owning mistakes rather than hiding them.
Reported by Tom's Hardware