The University of Rhode Island’s AI lab estimates that GPT-5 averages just over 18 Wh per query, so putting all of ChatGPT’s reported 2.5 billion requests a day through the model could see energy usage as high as 45 GWh.
A daily energy use of 45 GWh is enormous. A typical modern nuclear power plant produces between 1 and 1.6 GW of electricity per reactor per hour, so data centers running OpenAI’s GPT-5 at 18 Wh per query could require the power equivalent of two to three nuclear power reactors, an amount that could be enough to power a small country.
How does OpenAI getting less money (with a cheaper model) mean more profit? Am I missing something?
Usually, companies will make their product say 25% cheaper to produce, then sell it to the public at a 20% discount (while loudly proclaiming to the world about that 20% price drop) and pocket that 5% increase in profits. So if OpenAI is dropping the price by x, it’s safe to assume that the efficiency gains work out to x+1.
Thanks! This makes sense, however OpenAI are not yet profitable. It’s definitely possible that they’re losing less money with the new models, though.
That “not profitable” label should be taken with a grain of salt. Startups will do all the creative accounting they can in order to maintain that label. After all, don’t have to pay taxes on negative profits.
In the end, it still means their losses are greater than their profits.
They’ve still got taxes they need to pay, too - things like payroll taxes, real estate taxes, etc.
If the model is cheaper to run then they are able to reduce the price without reducing profit, which gives them an advantage over competitors and draws in more customer activity. OpenAI is far from a monopoly.