Sam Altman has found the underused RAM, and it is in your PC
Altman told a podcast your RAM is used 5% of the time, then met about 50 Samsung executives to get more.
Sam Altman has a RAM theory: your PC uses its memory "5% of the time". On the Cheeky Pint podcast he said "From a global allocation perspective, actually, it's quite terrible" for everyone to hold the world's limited DRAM that way. His fix is "maximum utilization in the cloud."
OpenAI is one of the biggest buyers of the memory in shortage. Altman then met about 50 senior Samsung executives in South Korea about securing more RAM for data centers.
Yahoo says the comments "spark outrage." No new supply deal was announced, so for now the only spare RAM in sight is yours.
Sources: Tom's Hardware (Oct 30, 2026); Yahoo Finance (Oct 31, 2026); Tom's Hardware (Nov 1, 2026); Gizmodo (Oct 31, 2026).
- Tom's Hardware, "OpenAI CEO says it's 'quite terrible' for your PC to have RAM" (Oct 30, 2026): the Cheeky Pint remarks themselves; the 5% figure, the global-allocation quote and the "maximum utilization in the cloud" fix. tomshardware.com
- Yahoo Finance, "'Quite terrible': Sam Altman says the RAM in your PC is a waste. OpenAI could soak up as much as 40% of supply" (Oct 31, 2026): the "spark outrage" subheading, OpenAI as one of the biggest buyers of the memory in shortage, and the "I think the invisible hand is failing right now" quote. finance.yahoo.com
- Tom's Hardware, "Sam Altman meets with Samsung leadership to secure more RAM for data centers amid crushing shortages" (Nov 1, 2026): the meeting with about 50 senior Samsung executives in South Korea, Samsung's confirmation, and no new memory supply agreement announced. tomshardware.com
- Gizmodo, "Sam Altman: All the RAM Should Belong to Me, So I Can Charge People to Use It" (Oct 31, 2026): the thesis restated by the press. gizmodo.com
Current as of Nov 2, 2026, days after the remarks and the Samsung meeting. The image is an AI-generated illustration. Not affiliated with anyone.