GoKawiilSam Altman says RAM is wasted sitting idle in consumer PCs
In a Cheeky Pint interview, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it's "quite terrible" that DRAM sits mostly unused inside consumer devices, since he estimates it's active only about 5% of the time. He argued memory would be better utilized in data centers, which run hardware near-continuously, citing PCs with local AI features and open-source LLMs as examples of inefficient use.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The remarks land amid a DRAM shortage that has roughly quintupled memory prices since last year, pushing up costs for PCs, game consoles, graphics cards and even cameras. Critics could read Altman's framing as favoring a shift from owning hardware to renting cloud-based AI services, which would benefit companies like OpenAI that depend on centralized compute, though Altman did not state that intent explicitly.
- Altman says DRAM in consumer devices is underused compared to data centers running near-constant workloads.
- He singled out PCs with local AI capabilities and open-source models like DeepSeek as inefficient uses of memory.
- The comments arrive as DRAM shortages have driven consumer hardware prices sharply higher, hurting PC and console sales.
Crucial 32GB DDR5 Desktop RAM Kit — With RAM prices climbing as AI data centers gobble up memory supply, now's a smart time to upgrade your PC before prices rise further. This Crucial kit gives you a solid boost in multitasking and local app performance, directly countering the squeeze Altman's comments highlight.
See Crucial 32GB DDR5 Desktop RAM Kit on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: techspot.com — Daniel Sims, 2026-10-31
Published there as: “Sam Altman says it's "terrible" for RAM to sit inside PCs instead of data centers”
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