Altman says scarce RAM should go to data centers, not PCs

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the global RAM shortage reflects a misallocation of memory resources, arguing that it is better for limited DRAM capacity to be concentrated in cloud data centers rather than sitting idle in personal computers. Speaking on the Cheeky Pint podcast, Altman said he found the supply chain crunch “terrible,” particularly given the growing number of AI workloads requiring high-performance memory. He pushed back against the assumption that local inference will eliminate the need for massive data center capacity, noting that even with open-source models and capable devices, cloud infrastructure remains central to the AI economy. Altman said that from a global allocation perspective, it is inefficient for individuals and developers to hold large amounts of memory that are used only a small fraction of the time. In a supply constrained environment, he argued, the priority should be maximum utilization in the cloud. His comments come as memory manufacturers and cloud operators compete for a scarce supply of DRAM, while consumers and businesses face rising prices for laptops, phones and other computing hardware. The pressure on memory prices is being driven by long term contracts between chipmakers and major technology and infrastructure players. Samsung and SK Hynix, two of the world’s largest memory suppliers, have reportedly secured substantial commitments from cloud service operators and large AI projects such as OpenAI’s Stargate. Those deals have reserved much of the world’s RAM output for the coming years, tightening availability for other sectors and pushing up costs across the technology supply chain.