Sam Altman Defends AI Energy Efficiency Amidst Data Center Concerns

The environmental impact of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, particularly their substantial electricity and water consumption, is facing increasing scrutiny. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has responded to these concerns, sparking debate with claims that AI chatbots like ChatGPT are, in fact, more energy-efficient than humans in processing information.

Altman’s Efficiency Argument

Altman presented his argument at the Express Adda event during the India-AI Impact 2026 Summit. He contends that criticisms surrounding ChatGPT’s energy consumption often focus solely on the energy required to train AI models, neglecting the significant “energy costs” associated with developing human intelligence.

“It as well takes a lot of energy to train humans. It takes 20 years of life and all the food you eat during that time before you become smart,” Altman argued, suggesting that when measured by energy efficiency per answered question, AI may already equal or surpass human efficiency.

Dismissing Water Usage Concerns

Altman also refuted claims of excessive water usage in AI data centers, dismissing reports that a single ChatGPT query requires 17 gallons of water as “absolutely not true.” He attributes these concerns to a misunderstanding of the evolving cooling systems used in data centers, stating that they are increasingly moving away from water-intensive evaporative cooling systems. OpenAI boss Sam Altman predicts next substantial AI breakthrough

A Critique of Musk’s Space Data Center Ambitions

In a brief aside, Altman also criticized the feasibility of his rival, Elon Musk’s, proposal to build a data center in space, deeming the idea “completely ridiculous” for the current decade due to the high costs of rocket launches and the challenges of repairing GPU chips in orbit.

Backlash and Mathematical Rebuttals

Altman’s analogies and claims were met with criticism on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Technology experts and practitioners challenged his assertions with mathematical calculations, suggesting his comparisons were flawed.

ChatGPT Growth and Competition

Despite the controversy surrounding energy consumption, OpenAI reports significant growth for ChatGPT. As of February 9, 2026, ChatGPT is “back to exceeding 10% monthly growth,” according to an internal Slack message from Altman to employees. Sam Altman touts ChatGPT growth as OpenAI nears $100 billion funding. More than 800 million people leverage ChatGPT each week, as reported in October 2025, and OpenAI processes over 6 billion tokens per minute on its API. The company is also facing increasing competition from companies like Anthropic, particularly in coding tools.

The Future of AI and Energy Efficiency

OpenAI is preparing to launch an updated Chat model this week, and Altman highlights the growth of their coding product, Codex, which has seen approximately 50% growth in a week. The debate surrounding AI’s energy consumption and environmental impact is likely to continue as the technology evolves and becomes more integrated into daily life. The pursuit of more efficient AI models and sustainable data center practices will be crucial for mitigating these concerns.