“From a global allocation perspective, actually, it’s quite terrible to have everybody have a bunch of the world’s limited supply of DRAM sitting in their own computer, and being used maybe 5% of the time.”
The AI industry faces significant challenges in scaling its models quickly, and Altman sees centralized data centers as a solution. However, he appears to overlook the broader demand for RAM across various consumer electronics, which has led to price surges in gaming hardware. For instance, the cost of used PS5 Pros has soared to $1,399 following an official price hike in March due to the RAM shortage.
The shortage has also impacted the availability of graphics cards, with Nvidia’s RTX 5080 disappearing from the market shortly after the RTX 5090’s discontinuation. Altman seems to view these consumer shortages as an opportunity to redirect memory resources towards AI infrastructure. As Samsung’s recent earnings report indicates, this trend is expected to persist, with no immediate relief in sight for the RAM market.
Altman’s perspective underscores a tension between consumer needs and the burgeoning demands of the AI sector. As he puts it,
“You want maximum utilization in the cloud if you’re trying to deal with this very supply constrained environment.”
Article Source: www.ign.com
