DEDUPED Hot AI repos. Real use cases. What people build. Get the Monday 5
Chips & InfraEveryone covered this

Sam Altman met about 50 Samsung presidents on Saturday about memory chip supply

· Chips & Infra

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met about 50 Samsung Group presidents on Saturday, October 31, at Samsung's training center in Yongin, south of Seoul, according to The Next Web and SammyGuru. Samsung confirmed the meeting. The executives came from its electronics, finance and biotech affiliates, and the theme was how AI will change the next ten years.

The meeting came two days after a podcast aired in which Altman called it "quite terrible" for the world's limited DRAM supply to sit in personal computers. On the Cheeky Pint podcast, hosted by John Collison, he said memory in home machines is used just 5% of the time, and argued that in a supply-constrained market it belongs in the cloud. Yahoo Finance also quoted him saying "I think the invisible hand is failing right now."

Memory prices are the backdrop. Yahoo Finance, citing TrendForce, reported conventional DRAM contract prices jumped roughly 93% to 98% in the first quarter of 2026, with increases forecast to slow to 10% to 15% in the fourth quarter. It also reported a 32GB DDR5 kit now runs about $500, up from roughly $400 in early April, per a Tom's Guide investigation.

OpenAI is a large buyer. Samsung signed a letter of intent with OpenAI in October 2025 to cooperate on AI infrastructure, including supplying advanced memory for the Stargate project. SammyGuru adds that Samsung is deploying ChatGPT Enterprise and Codex among employees. Neither side announced a new chip supply agreement after this meeting.

SammyGuru also reported that Altman gave some leaders OpenAI's Codex Micro Keyboard, a $230 accessory with a joystick, rotary dial and 13 mechanical switches that helps control the Codex coding agent.

For developers, the takeaway is practical. Altman's comments drew a sharp backlash because critics say AI companies are driving the shortage, and as Yahoo Finance noted, people who run local models often do so for privacy and to skip subscriptions. If you plan local inference hardware, memory is likely to stay expensive; TrendForce warned PC memory could shrink next year as production shifts to servers. Watch for any formal Samsung and OpenAI supply announcement.

Sources

  1. 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
  2. SammyGuruSam Altman Meets 50 Samsung Execs, Gifts OpenAI’s Codex Keyboard
  3. 24/7 Wall St.OpenAI’s CEO Thinks Your Laptop’s Memory Should Be in a Data Center
  4. TechPowerUpOpenAI CEO Argues Home PCs Waste the World's Limited DRAM Supply
  5. TechSpotSam Altman says it's "terrible" for RAM to sit inside PCs instead of data centers
  6. The Next WebSam Altman meets Samsung’s presidents days after his DRAM remark
  7. ShiftDelete.NetSam Altman Samsung Meeting: 50 Executives Talk AI in Yongin
  8. 헤럴드경제Chey Tae-won lunches with OpenAI's Sam Altman to discuss HBM, AI data center cooperation
  9. SamMobileOpenAI CEO Sam Altman meets with 50 Samsung executives to discuss AI
  10. shattered.ioSam Altman RAM Remarks: 5% Use, 'Quite Terrible'
  11. MoneyWise.com‘Quite terrible’: Sam Altman says the RAM in your PC is a waste. OpenAI could soak up as much as 40% of supply
  12. WccftechSam Altman Calls PC RAM A “Quite Terrible” Use Of Limited DRAM Supply, Argues Cloud Data Centers Are More Efficient

Building with AI? See this week's hot AI repos and how to use each one.

From the issue

Apple Intelligence reaches China with Alibaba's Qwen Sunday, November 1, 2026

More in AI chips and infrastructure

All ai chips and infrastructure