If you’ve priced out a new laptop lately, you probably won’t love Sam Altman’s latest take, since the OpenAI CEO thinks the memory inside it would be better off in a data center.
Altman said it’s “quite terrible to have everybody have a bunch of the world’s limited supply” of DRAM sitting in personal computers on an Oct. 29 episode of Stripe co-founder John Collison’s “Cheeky Pint” podcast. That memory, he said, gets used just 5% of the time.
DRAM, or dynamic random-access memory, is the active device memory that lets your PC, phone or game console juggle whatever you have open. AI data centers are soaking up so much of it that the shortage is raising prices on everyday electronics.
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Sam Altman’s RAM comments spark outrage
Collison asked why sky-high hardware prices hadn’t lured new suppliers into the market, and Altman was blunt. “I think the invisible hand is failing right now,” he said, according to the episode transcript.
From there, he went after a popular idea among AI enthusiasts — that open-source models running on a large number of personal computers, known as local inference, will ease the need for giant data centers. Altman sees it the other way around, arguing that when memory is this scarce, it belongs in cloud servers running at full tilt rather than spread across home machines that sit idle most of the day.
To be fair to Altman, he was answering a question about local AI, not gaming rigs, and a server shared by thousands of customers will keep its chips busier than your PC ever will. But people who run home-baked AI usually do it for reasons that have little to do with efficiency, like keeping their data private and skipping a monthly subscription. Altman’s OpenAI is also one of the biggest buyers of the very memory he says is in short supply — critics argue AI companies like OpenAI are driving the shortage in the first place.
The backlash online was swift and widespread across social media, with some posts crossing into violent threats against Altman. Against that backdrop, Forbes senior contributor Paul Tassi’s reaction on X was among the more restrained: “You know what I don’t think I like this guy very much.”
Why RAM prices keep climbing
Altman’s comments come at a time when computer parts prices are in a pressure cooker — especially RAM. Conventional DRAM contract prices — what PC makers and other big buyers pay chipmakers before those costs trickle down to store shelves — jumped roughly 93% to 98% in the first quarter of 2026 alone, according to TrendForce. The research firm projected on Sept. 30 that increases would slow to 10% to 15% in the fourth quarter. It also warned that PC memory could shrink next year as more production shifts to servers. Other analysts expect the shortage to last at least through 2027.
At checkout, a 32GB kit of DDR5 now runs about $500, up from roughly $400 in early April, a Tom’s Guide investigation showed — a markup they call a “cloud tax.”
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OpenAI is a major driver of that demand. In October 2025, Altman signed letters of intent with Samsung and SK Hynix to supply memory for Stargate, OpenAI’s data center buildout, which SK Group said would put its projected demand at up to 900,000 DRAM wafers a month. That’s as much as 40% of global output, based on TechInsights’ 2025 production estimate.
As for why memory makers don’t just build more factories, Altman told Collison the industry remembers its history, when a DRAM producer “would invest $20 billion of CapEx to make $19 billion.” The most recent bust was in 2023, when Samsung cut memory production after flagging a roughly 96% drop in first-quarter operating profit, Reuters reported.
OpenAI’s funding round comes in smaller than planned
While Altman was making the case for putting the world’s memory in data centers, OpenAI was having a harder time than expected raising money to build them. Bloomberg reported on Sept. 29 that the company was seeking at least $30 billion at a pre-money valuation (what a company is worth before the new cash comes in) of about $1.4 trillion.
By Oct. 22, the price had slipped to $1.25 trillion for a round led by investors from the United Arab Emirates and the firm Coatue, CNBC reported.
Oct. 30 was the deadline for investors to commit, and by then OpenAI had cut the round to about $20 billion. Even the first tranche of cash was expected to fall short after some investors scaled back, the FT reported. The cut came amid a tech-stock selloff over AI spending, and as OpenAI raced to wrap up before rival Anthropic’s expected mid-November IPO. Later that day, The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI had raised less than half of its original $30 billion target.
A $1.25 trillion valuation is still comfortably above the $852 billion OpenAI announced in March after raising $122 billion. It’s also $150 billion below the price the company was pitching just a month ago.
What this means if you’re shopping for a PC
Altman told Collison he’d like the cost of computing to come down, too, but he was clear that supply has to go way up first — and if TrendForce’s outlook holds, that’s unlikely for PCs in 2027.
In the meantime, compare specs line by line instead of just sticker prices, since TrendForce says PC brands are trimming storage in mainstream models to keep costs down. If your current machine still does the job, holding off may save you money, though with supply staying tight next year, waiting isn’t a guaranteed win. And unless you’re running local AI models or demanding games, there’s no reason to pay the “cloud tax” on top-tier memory you’ll never use.
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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: ‘Quite terrible’: Sam Altman says the RAM in your PC is a waste. OpenAI could soak up as much as 40% of supply
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
