萨姆·奥特曼想提醒大家，人类同样消耗着大量的能源。
内容总结：
近日，OpenAI首席执行官萨姆·阿尔特曼在印度出席一场由《印度快报》主办的活动时，就人工智能的环境影响问题作出回应。针对近期网络上“每次ChatGPT查询消耗17加仑水”等说法，阿尔特曼直斥其“完全错误、脱离现实”。他解释称，此类担忧源于早期数据中心采用蒸发冷却技术的阶段，而当前运营已不再沿用该方式。
阿尔特曼同时指出，公众对人工智能总体能耗的关注是合理的。随着全球AI使用量激增，能源需求将持续上升，他呼吁应加速转向核能、风能和太阳能等清洁能源。目前科技公司并无法律义务披露其能耗与水耗数据，学界正尝试独立开展相关研究。此前有研究将数据中心与电价上涨相联系，引发社会讨论。
当被问及“单次ChatGPT查询是否相当于消耗1.5个iPhone电池电量”时，阿尔特曼予以否认。他强调，许多关于AI能耗的讨论存在偏颇，尤其是对比AI模型训练成本与人类单次推理查询能耗时。他以人类成长过程类比：“培养一个人需要20年的生命历程及期间所有食物消耗，更涉及百亿年人类进化积累的智慧。”在他看来，合理的能效对比应着眼于：在模型训练完成后，AI与人类回答同一问题所消耗的能源。阿尔特曼认为，按此标准衡量，AI在能效方面可能已实现赶超。
随着全球AI产业快速发展，技术演进与环境可持续性的平衡将持续成为业界关注焦点。
中文翻译：
本周，在《印度快报》主办的一场活动中，OpenAI首席执行官萨姆·阿尔特曼回应了人们对人工智能环境影响的担忧。
正在印度参加一场重要人工智能峰会的阿尔特曼表示，关于人工智能耗水量的担忧"完全是虚假的"，不过他承认，在"我们过去在数据中心使用蒸发冷却技术时"，这确实是个问题。
"现在我们不再那样做了，但网上还是会出现'不要用ChatGPT，每次查询要消耗17加仑水'之类的说法，"阿尔特曼说，"这完全不是真的，简直荒谬至极，与现实毫无关联。"
他补充说，关注"能源消耗——不是单次查询，而是总量，因为全世界现在都在大量使用人工智能"是"合理的"。在他看来，这意味着世界需要"迅速转向核能、风能和太阳能"。
科技公司没有法律义务披露其能源和水的使用量，因此科学家们一直在尝试独立研究。数据中心的运行也一直与电价上涨相关联。
采访者援引此前与比尔·盖茨的对话，询问目前单次ChatGPT查询的耗电量是否真的相当于1.5部iPhone的电池电量，阿尔特曼对此回应："绝对不可能接近那个数字。"
阿尔特曼还抱怨说，许多关于ChatGPT能耗的讨论是"不公平的"，尤其是当它们聚焦于"训练一个人工智能模型需要多少能量，相对于人类进行一次推理查询的成本"时。
"但培养一个人同样需要大量能量，"阿尔特曼说，"你需要20年的生命历程，以及在此期间摄入的所有食物，才能变得聪明。不仅如此，还需要历经数百亿人的广泛进化，他们学会了不被捕食者吃掉，学会了如何探索科学等等，才造就了你。"
因此在他看来，公平的比较应该是："在模型训练完成后，向ChatGPT提问并获取答案需要多少能量，与人类回答同样问题相比如何？很可能，从能效角度看，人工智能已经赶上了人类。"
您可以在下方观看完整采访。关于水和能源使用的讨论大约从26分35秒开始。
英文来源：
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed concerns about AI’s environmental impact this week while speaking at an event hosted by The Indian Express.
For one thing, Altman — who was in India for a major AI summit — said concerns about AI’s water usage are “totally fake,” though he acknowledged it was a real issue when “we used to do evaporative cooling in data centers.”
“Now that we don’t do that, you see these things on the internet where, ‘Don’t use ChatGPT, it’s 17 gallons of water for each query’ or whatever,” Altman said. “This is completely untrue, totally insane, no connection to reality.”
He added that it’s “fair” to be concerned about “the energy consumption — not per query, but in total, because the world is now using so much AI.” In his view, this means the world needs to “move towards nuclear or wind and solar very quickly.”
There’s no legal requirement for tech companies to disclose how much energy and water they use, so scientists have been trying to study it independently. Data centers have also been connected to rising electricity prices.
Citing a previous conversation with Bill Gates, the interviewer asked whether it’s accurate to say a single ChatGPT query currently uses the equivalent of 1.5 iPhone battery charges, to which Altman replied, “There’s no way it’s anything close to that much.”
Altman also complained that many discussions about ChatGPT’s energy usage are “unfair,” especially when they focus on “how much energy it takes to train an AI model, relative to how much it costs a human to do one inference query.”
Save up to $300 or 30% to TechCrunch Founder Summit
1,000+ founders and investors come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, and real-world scaling. Learn from founders and investors who have shaped the industry. Connect with peers navigating similar growth stages. Walk away with tactics you can apply immediately.
Offer ends March 13.
Save up to $300 or 30% to TechCrunch Founder Summit
1,000+ founders and investors come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, and real-world scaling. Learn from founders and investors who have shaped the industry. Connect with peers navigating similar growth stages. Walk away with tactics you can apply immediately
Offer ends March 13.
“But it also takes a lot of energy to train a human,” Altman said. “It takes like 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart. And not only that, it took the very widespread evolution of the 100 billion people that have ever lived and learned not to get eaten by predators and learned how to figure out science and whatever, to produce you.”
So in his view, the fair comparison is, “If you ask ChatGPT a question, how much energy does it take once its model is trained to answer that question versus a human? And probably, AI has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis, measured that way.”
You can watch the full interview below. The conversation about water and energy usage begins at around 26:35.