Sam Altman says it’s better to keep RAM in data centers

In an interview on the Cheeky Pint podcast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it is “terrible” to keep large amounts of the world’s limited DRAM supply in personal computers that are used only a small portion of the time. He challenged the idea that open-source models and local inference would eliminate the need for data-center infrastructure, saying the cloud allows memory utilization to be maximized in a supply-constrained environment.

The Verge reports that Samsung and SK Hynix have long-term deals with cloud service operators, while projects such as OpenAI’s Stargate have reportedly reserved a significant share of the world’s RAM output for the next few years. The outlet links the billions being spent on those chips to the current higher prices of laptops, phones and other devices.