ChatGPT Willingly Spends 'tens of millions of dollars' on people saying 'please' and 'thank you'. But Mother Earth Is Raising Her Eyebrow

OpenAI is pleading for its users to stop saying please and thank you to ChatGPT, as these pleasantries cost the company ten of million of dollars every year.

This unexpected expense comes as the AI’s popularity soars, with every polite phrase adding to the computational load—and the electricity bill—of running the world’s most advanced conversational AI.

This revelation comes after OpenAI's CEO answered a fan's questions on twitter about the real cost of being polite, where Altman answered, “Tens of millions of dollars well spent—you never know.”

Each time a user adds a courteous phrase, it triggers extra processing by energy-hungry data centers, which translates directly into higher operational costs for OpenAI. While the company is happy to foot the bill, Altman’s comments highlight the environmental and financial impact of AI’s growing role in daily life.

Every interaction with ChatGPT, even a simple “thank you,” requires the model to generate a response—drawing on vast computing resources. According to some estimates, a single ChatGPT query can use up to three watt-hours of electricity, though newer models are becoming more efficient.

With usage surging past 150 million weekly active users, these small acts of courtesy scale into millions in extra expenses. The revelation has ignited discussion about why people are polite to AI.

A December 2024 survey found that 67% of Americans are courteous to AI assistants—55% because it’s the right thing to do, and 12% “just in case” AI remembers how it’s treated.

Some experts argue that polite language actually improves AI’s responses, fostering more respectful and collaborative interactions.

Despite the mounting costs, OpenAI sees value in maintaining a human touch in AI conversations. As competition heats up in the global AI race and operational costs remain high, the debate continues: Is politeness with AI a costly luxury, or an essential part of making technology more relatable and humane?