§ Claim under review · Mixed
"Sam Altman (CEO, OpenAI) said that asking ChatGPT 38,000 questions uses as much water as growing one almond in California." (Hindi original: "ChatGPT पर 38 हजार सवाल पूछने में उतना ही पानी खर्च होता है, जितना कैलिफोर्निया में एक बादाम उगाने में लगता है।")
Verdict
Source exists but framing is misleading
Confidence
MediumSummary
Sam Altman really did say this. On a podcast released the first week of September 2026, the OpenAI chief executive said that about 38,000 ChatGPT queries use as much water as growing one California almond, and the post quotes him accurately. What the post leaves out is that Altman himself added a caveat in the same breath, saying he did not have the calculation in front of him and was going from memory. It also leaves out that the figure is disputed. Fact checkers at PolitiFact and CalMatters examined it within days and found it overstates how much water almonds need while relying on a very low per-query water figure that comes only from Altman's own blog and cannot be independently checked, because OpenAI does not publish its water use. Altman's own earlier published number actually implies roughly 11,000 queries per almond, not 38,000. So the quote is genuine, but presenting it without the speaker's own hedge or the fact-check response makes a rough guess look like a settled fact.
The readings
key figures from the evidenceChatGPT queries claimed equal to one almond's water use
Altman's own blog estimate of water per ChatGPT query
Why this verdict
Evidence
Multiple independent named outlets report that Altman made this statement. PolitiFact records that Sam Altman stated on September 1, 2026 in a podcast: "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."
CalMatters places the remark on the Sources Podcast with Alex Heath, released that Tuesday.
The statement carried a caveat. Yahoo Finance quotes him saying he did not have the exact calculation in front of him and that he thought the real number was something like that figure.
Other coverage likewise notes he acknowledged the figure came from memory and could be inaccurate.
On the number's accuracy, the fact checks are negative. PolitiFact judged that the figure skews the estimates for both almonds' and AI's water demands , and found it overstates the water consumed by almond agriculture while using a relatively low ChatGPT water figure.
A 2019 study found growing a single California almond requires 3.2 gallons, or 12 liters, of water, counting more than just direct water use.
Altman's own June 2025 blog post put the average ChatGPT query at 0.000085 gallons, and PolitiFact reported that post was the only source it found for that number, that OpenAI does not publicize its overall water consumption, and that the company did not respond to its request for more information.
Tom's Guide notes the 38,000 figure does not square with Altman's own prior statement, since combining his 0.000085 gallon figure with commonly cited per-almond estimates yields roughly 11,000 queries per almond.
CalMatters reports experts saying public data center water data is too sparse to verify his math.
Findings
✓ What's accurate 4
- Altman did make this statement, in the words the post attributes to him, on a podcast on September 1, 2026.
- The numbers, 38,000 queries and one California almond, are reported accurately by the post.
- The speaker and his title are correctly identified.
- The framing context, AI data center water consumption, matches the actual discussion.
≈ What's misleading 3
- Omitted qualifier: Altman explicitly said he did not have the exact calculation in front of him and that the figure was from memory and could be off. The post presents the sentence as a flat, confident assertion inside quotation marks with no hedge. A reader sees a CEO stating a fact rather than offering an approximation he himself flagged as uncertain.
- Marketing as evidence: the post relays an interested party's self-favorable estimate about his own company's environmental footprint without noting that it is a vendor claim. The underlying per-query water figure traces to Altman's own blog post and, per PolitiFact, no other source, while OpenAI does not publish overall water consumption data.
- The post carries no indication that the figure is contested. Two fact checks published within days concluded it overstates almond water use and understates or cannot verify AI water use, and it conflicts with Altman's own earlier published number by roughly a factor of three.
? What's uncertain 3
- The primary artifact, the podcast recording or full transcript, was not retrieved. The quotation is established through consistent independent reporting rather than direct listening.
- The second quotation in the post about "12 almonds" could not be verified against a source in this investigation. It may be an accurate part of the same remarks or a paraphrase; treat it as uninvestigated.
- The true per-query water figure for ChatGPT is not publicly establishable. OpenAI does not disclose it, and experts quoted say public data center water data is too sparse to check the math.
Sources
6 of 6 linked to recordsPolitiFact fact check of the statement, dated September 4, 2026, which quotes the statement verbatim and dates it to a September 1, 2026 podcast
CalMatters fact check, September 2026
Tom's Hardware report quoting the statement
Yahoo Finance report including the surrounding caveat sentence
Tom's Guide fact check referencing Altman's June 2025 blog post figure
Free Press Journal report