Sam Altman Says Having DRAM in Personal PCs Is 'Quite Terrible'

Sam Altman says it is “quite terrible” for everybody to hold “a bunch of the world's limited supply of DRAM” in their own computers. The OpenAI CEO made the remark on the Cheeky Pint podcast, hosted by Stripe co-founder John Collison. The episode was released on Oct. 29.

What Altman Said

Collison asked why new memory makers were not flooding the market despite high prices. Altman answered that “the invisible hand is failing right now.” He then turned to local AI, where users run open-source models on their own machines.

“From a global allocation perspective, actually, it's quite terrible to have everybody have a bunch of the world's limited supply of DRAM sitting in their own computer,” Altman said. He said that memory is “being used 5% of the time.” Altman did not say in that passage where the 5% estimate comes from.

“You want maximum utilization in the cloud if you're trying to deal with this very supply constrained environment,” he added. The remark comes about 29 minutes into the episode. Altman also said many people's intuition “is the opposite of that.”

Why Memory Is Scarce

Altman said DRAM makers long earned thin returns. They would “invest $20 billion of CapEx to make $19 billion,” he said. Now, by his estimate, each is on track to make about $100 billion in free cash flow in a year.

He said the makers remember past boom-and-bust cycles. They are wary of building too many fabs, he said. TrendForce, a market research firm, projects PC DRAM contract prices will rise 13% to 18% in the fourth quarter.

TrendForce says Samsung and SK Hynix are shifting capacity to AI server memory. It says Korean makers' PC DRAM output could fall more than 20% next year, and possibly more than 40%. Investors are already questioning Big Tech's AI spending.

OpenAI's Own Memory Deals

OpenAI is itself a major memory buyer. On Oct. 1, 2025, Samsung and SK Hynix signed non-binding letters of intent to supply memory for its Stargate project. The companies said OpenAI's demand could reach up to 900,000 DRAM wafers per month.

Reuters reported that a South Korean official said OpenAI sought 900,000 wafers in 2029. The Verge reports that long-term deals, including Stargate, have reserved much of the world's RAM output for the next few years. Heavy AI spending is under scrutiny across the sector, and Anthropic's IPO filing reported an $8 billion annual loss.

How the Remark Is Being Read

Tech outlets noted that the argument is narrower than some headlines suggest. PC Gamer said Altman was addressing local AI inference rather than gamers. Notebookcheck said it ignores gaming and everyday uses for PC memory.

PCMag noted that OpenAI partners including Nvidia and Microsoft promote local AI on PCs with large memory. Local AI also lets users skip cloud subscriptions, PCMag said. Clash Report could not find an OpenAI clarification of the remark.