‘Sam Almond’ becomes a meme after the OpenAI CEO’s comments on ChatGPT’s water usage

Thirty-eight thousand ChatGPT queries versus a single almond may sound like a strange sequel to the “100 men versus a gorilla” viral debate meme. Instead, it’s just Sam Altman’s response to public concerns over AI’s water usage. In a recent podcast, the OpenAI CEO sat down with tech reporter Alex Heath to discuss the future of the technology while also addressing concerns over AI’s impact on society—with one moment in particular going viral. When asked about public concerns over the water usage of large language models like ChatGPT, Altman tried countering the worries by offering a comparison to a more water-taxing product. “I saw this thing going around about the water usage of ChatGPT and it was like, ‘every time you run a ChatGPT query, it’s like you ran your shower for six hours and the water never comes back’,” Altman told Heath. “I think the real number is something like . . . for every 38,000 ChatGPT [queries], that is the same amount of water that is used in the production of a single almond in California.” “A robust meme” Questions around AI-related water usage have become an increasingly hot topic on social media, despite the fact that tracking exactly how much water AI …