OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on the Sources podcast that roughly 38,000 ChatGPT queries use about as much water as growing one California almond. He noted he was recalling the figure from memory and it might not be exact, but argued public worries about AI data-center water use are overstated.
Altman has previously put water use at about 0.32 milliliters per ChatGPT query. A 2019 U.S. Geological Survey–affiliated estimate put average water use for one California almond at about 3.56 liters. Using those two figures, the almond-to-query ratio is closer to about 11,000 queries per almond than 38,000 — still far below viral claims that a single query equals hours of shower water.
Source: Times Now — Sam Altman on ChatGPT water use vs. one almond