If you are too polite, you are making ChatGPT costlier 😇

If you are too polite, you are making ChatGPT costlier 😇

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If you say “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT, you’re not the only one — and surprisingly, those small gestures might be costing OpenAI big time.

According to CEO Sam Altman, polite users contribute to significantly higher electricity usage, with the extra back-and-forth responses racking up “tens of millions of dollars” in energy costs.

Every friendly message you receive from ChatGPT is processed in powerful, energy-intensive data centers.

These facilities require massive amounts of electricity—not only to fuel the AI’s computations but also to keep the servers cool.
Despite the steep power bill, Altman sees it as a worthwhile trade-off.

He says natural, human-like interactions are a key part of what makes AI truly useful and engaging.
So if you’re being extra polite to your chatbot, don’t worry.

As Altman put it, it’s “tens of millions of dollars well spent.”