tech
February 23, 2026
Sam Altman defends AI's energy toll by saying it also takes a lot to ‘train a human’
OpenAI CEO also downplayed concerns about how much water datacenters require at AI summit in India
TL;DR
- Sam Altman compared the energy needed to train AI models to the energy and time it takes to train a human.
- He acknowledged that AI's energy consumption is a fair concern and stressed the need for nuclear, wind, and solar power.
- Datacenters accounted for 1.5% of global electricity consumption in 2024 and are projected to grow significantly.
- Environmental groups have called for a moratorium on building new data centers in the US due to their impact.
- Altman dismissed claims about the significant water usage of data centers for queries like ChatGPT.
- Critics question the justification of AI's resource demands, citing that much of ChatGPT's usage is not work-related.
- Altman's remarks drew backlash online, with some critics calling them dystopian and comparing him to a sociopath.
Continue reading the original article