OpenAI CEO says polite prompts like ‘please’ & 'thank you' are costing millions in power

Saying “please” and “thank you” to AI might sound like harmless etiquette, but according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, it comes with a hefty price tag.

Altman recently revealed that these extra polite words are increasing energy consumption significantly, costing the company tens of millions of dollars each year.

The revelation was sparked by a post on X (formerly Twitter) questioning, “how much money OpenAI has lost in electricity costs from people saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to their models.”

Altman’s candid reply: “Tens of millions of dollars well spent—you never know.” Immense energy is needed to power large language models like ChatGPT, even for seemingly trivial niceties.

Despite the cost, Altman seems to value the human-like quality these phrases bring to interactions.

However, others see more depth to this habit.

Microsoft’s design manager, Kurtis Beavers, supports polite language in AI usage, saying “Using polite language sets a tone for the response” and “helps generate respectful, collaborative outputs.”

These models function using vast datasets and complex algorithms that demand substantial computing power and electricity.

A joint study by the University of California and The Washington Post found that creating a simple 100-word email via AI takes approximately 0.14 kilowatt-hours of electricity which is enough to power 14 LED lights for an hour.

Given the scale of global AI use, it’s no wonder Altman highlighted the cumulative effect of every single prompt.

A 2024 survey also noted that 67% of Americans admitted to being polite to chatbots. Of those, 55% said it was simply “the right thing to do”, while a cheeky 12% said they did it just in case of an AI uprising.

So while the courtesy might come at a cost, for many, it’s a small price to pay for kindness, even towards machines.