- Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated that an average ChatGPT query consumes 0.34 watt-hours of energy, comparable to brief usage of an oven or lightbulb.
- Concerns arise regarding the lack of context for this figure, including how "average" queries are defined and if training and server cooling are factored into the energy use.
- Experts, like Sasha Luccioni from Hugging Face, question the credibility of Altman’s energy estimate and the absence of detailed information from OpenAI.
- Research highlights the urgent need for transparency in AI’s environmental impact, noting that 84% of large language model (LLM) usage has no environmental disclosures.
- Discrepancies exist in energy consumption claims, such as ChatGPT requests allegedly using ten times more energy than Google searches, which lacks solid evidence and arises from unverified statements.