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Artificial intelligence (AI) is well and truly a part of modern society and there's really no escaping it.
You may have used AI to generate a funny image or two, or you've asked it to explain an unfamiliar concept, but we've all dabbled in it one way or another.
Soon enough, we'll all be relying on the technology every day for certain things, robots will control the world, and we'll all be batteries. Well, if The Matrix is to be believed.
But so far, AI has been pretty helpful to us and it seems no programme is more popular than ChatGPT.
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Developed by OpenAI, the AI-powered language model is one of the fastest-growing technologies in history, garnering a whopping 100 million users just two months after its launch.
But how much does it actually cost to run a programme like this, 24/7?
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has previously revealed how much it costs the company when you say 'thank you', has spoken about the 'eye-popping' figures that come with running ChatGPT.
How much does ChatGPT cost to run?
In 2023, technology research firm SemiAnalysis conducted some trial calculations, which revealed that Chat GPT costs approximately $700,000 (£519,000) per day to operate, with the bulk of the expense apparently going towards the hardware required.
This alone reportedly sets OpenAI back $694,444 (£514,700) per day, while the company uses over 3,600 servers to operate said system.
The cost estimates were based on GPT-3, as SemiAnalysis chief analyst Dylan Patel suggested that GPT-4 might cost even more.
It could pose a huge issue for the company, as more and more people are becoming accustomed to using the chatbot on a day-to-day basis, and OpenAI needs to return a profit.
The research firm estimated that if it was used for Google's search business, the costs of running the model alone, known as 'LLM inference costs', would cost $36 billion (£26.69 billion).
How is OpenAI combating the costs?
Microsoft, an OpenAI partner, has been working on a chip built for AI that will help to reduce costs of operation.
ChatGPT Plus has also been introduced for the premium subscription of $20 (£14.80).
Users get priority access in high-traffic periods, quicker responses, access to other models with higher usage limits, and features like custom GPT creation and image analysis, among other things.
Questions remain over its sustainability, as the costs of running an AI model can skyrocket.
If they don't find a way to control the costs though, a lot of people may need to re-learn how to use Google again.
LADbible has contacted OpenAI for comment.
Topics: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, ChatGPT, Money
Joshua Nair