Apparently, being courteous to ChatGPT comes with a hidden cost—at least according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The company has disclosed that polite phrases like “please” and “thank you” in user prompts are actually racking up a surprisingly high expense.
In daily life, good manners don’t cost a dime. But in the world of AI, those small gestures of kindness are adding up to a hefty price tag.
Many people intentionally show extra respect to AI—just in case robots end up running the show someday. Better safe than sorry, right?
As it turns out, politeness might be pricier than expected—at least for the folks footing the AI bill at OpenAI.
It all began when someone tweeted asking how much OpenAI has spent on electricity, just from users adding “please” and “thank you” to their prompts.
Sam Altman, the CEO of the company, quickly responded. He revealed that those two simple words are costing OpenAI “tens of millions of dollars.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it’s costing millionsTayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
Despite the surprise cost, the 39-year-old tech CEO remained unfazed. He shrugged it off, calling it “money well spent” and added, “You never know.”
His response quickly became a source of humor online, with many users saying they plan to keep being polite, just in case AI decides to revolt someday.
One person even shared their strategy of always using respectful language, thinking that if AI becomes sentient and escapes, at least the machines will remember they were one of the “good” humans.
Altman doesn’t necessarily think it’s a bad thingsama/X
Another user shared a similar perspective, saying, “I’d rather say please and thank you. It puts me in a good mood, sets the tone, and who knows—just in case it remembers I was kind to it.”
Someone else weighed in with a deeper take: “That’s not the true cost of being polite, whether to humans or AI. We teach kids to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ not because it’s the most efficient, but because it fosters empathy, respect, and emotional awareness.” They added, “Sure, skipping polite phrases could speed things up, shorten conversations, and even save time and money on a large scale. But we still choose to say them.”
They wrapped up with this: “Why? Because communication isn’t merely functional; it’s about connecting. As AI becomes integrated into daily life, the way we interact with it shows our values. If we normalize blunt, task-driven speech for the sake of speed, we risk fostering a colder, more impersonal world.”
A 2024 survey by Future revealed that roughly 67 percent of Americans remain polite when interacting with AI tools like ChatGPT or smart speakers.
Curiously, of the polite users, 18 percent admitted it was because they fear a potential robot uprising. The remaining 82 percent simply believe it’s the respectful approach, even when speaking to a machine.
Of the one-third of people who aren’t courteous to AI, around 40 percent explained that they simply didn’t understand the need. The remaining individuals stated they prefer to keep their prompts concise and straightforward, without any unnecessary embellishments.
Most of us are apparently being polite out of fearGetty Images
When it comes to the energy consumption, the numbers are staggering. A single ChatGPT query in 2023 reportedly consumed between 3.6 and 36 kilojoules of energy. Mashable India highlighted that AI models use roughly 17,000 times more electricity than the average American household.
Despite this, many users say they’re not ready to abandon their politeness just yet.
One person humorously remarked, “Nope, I won’t stop being nice to my eventual overlords.”
Another added, “Small price to pay for AI not murdering us later.”
A third user quipped, “Exactly! If saying ‘please’ keeps me off the robot hit list, I’ll say it twice.”
