Altman Challenges AI Data Center Water-Use Claims

The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence has intensified scrutiny of the electricity and water needed to run data centers. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said perceptions of AI facilities as unusually heavy water users are overstated, arguing that most consume roughly as much water as a conventional large office building. The debate matters as technology companies expand infrastructure while facing mounting pressure over environmental costs.

Altman recently sought to put the impact in perspective, saying growing a single almond uses more water than submitting 1,000 prompts to ChatGPT. The comparison suggests that the water attributed to an individual query is small, even as aggregate demand remains a concern at scale. He said the technology industry should focus on demonstrating AI’s tangible value to address public unease over its use of water and energy.