--- title: "Sam Altman Absolutely Hates the Idea of People Running Their Own AI Models at Home, Argues They Shouldn’t Own Computers" description: "To OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, having people run their own models at home on their own computers doesn't make any sense." date: "2026-10-30" modified: "2026-10-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-hates-local-ai-models-computers" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Sam Altman Absolutely Hates the Idea of People Running Their Own AI Models at Home, Argues They Shouldn’t Own Computers ![OpenAI CEO Sam Altman being interviewed.]() *Cheeky Pint via YouTube* Shares of US chipmaker Intel cratered on Friday, plunging almost 30 percent, the worst stock collapse in [52 years](). The wipeout, analysts said, could be [due to a massive slowdown in the PC market](). The market softness shouldn't come to anybody's surprise, given the AI boom has made individual components, most notably memory and storage, practically unaffordable. However, leaders of AI frontier labs aren't blinking. To OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, for instance, having people run their own models at home on their own computers doesn't make any sense anyway. During a [recent interview on the Cheeky Pint podcast](), Altman argued that ongoing memory supply chain woes were because selfish individuals wanted to run their AI models locally instead of leaving the remaining AI chips alone for hyperscalers to hoard in data centers. "A lot of people want local inference," he said. "And somehow, they assume, that the problem is solved now. Because we are going to have open-source models. We’re going to be able to run them on our own computers. And so we’re not going to need all the stuff in the data center." "But from a global allocation perspective, actually, it’s quite terrible to have everybody have a bunch of the world’s limited supply of \[dynamic RAM\] sitting in their own computer," he added. Instead of running their own models at home, a trend that has blown up thanks to the [emergence of open-weight models from China](), Altman argued that the cloud — run by hyperscalers like OpenAI — is the answer. "You want maximum utilization in the cloud if you’re trying to deal with this very constrained environment," he said. "And somehow everyone’s, many people’s intuition is the opposite of that." It's a particularly tone-deaf argument that throws fuel on the fire of tech enthusiasts everywhere, who have watched as individual components [have skyrocketed in price](). Just earlier this month, Altman [argued]() that the "world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology," which similarly drew a heated response. Altman's latest comments drew the ire of the PC gaming community. "What a self-centered POS," one enraged Reddit user [wrote](). "Cult leader mentality really shining with this one." "He seems to not be able to comprehend the idea of people wanting to own their own computers," another [wrote](). "Like it's an alien concept to him." "Privately owned companies with the sole interest of profit should not be making monumental decisions that affect the vast majority of the population," one user [argued](). "But maybe I'm the crazy one." The news comes as the AI industry continues to struggle to commercialize their offerings. It's a particularly hairy situation as their expenses are still ballooning at alarming rates, terrifying investors. The concept of running local inference on their own machines undermines the very concept of relying exclusively on expensive cloud services being offered by the likes of OpenAI. In other words, it's no wonder Altman hates the idea of people owning their own machines. His latest comments also speak to frontier AI labs desperately trying to secure AI chips as available supplies run low. There's a massive circuit board shortage as PC makers say they're [already fully booked through the end of 2030](). But to Altman, cutting out individual owners of computers capable of running AI models isn't a problem. After all, as he argued during the latest podcast appearance, the cloud is a far better use of available hardware. "Given that the world is going to be limited in its silicon capacity, we all have a shared interest," he said. Infuriated tech enthusiasts, however, are likely to disagree with that sentiment. **More on Sam Altman:** [*Sam Altman Says the World Is Going to Have to Suffer for the Glories of AI*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [Rumors Fly That a Famous Actor Is Dating an AI Chatbot]() - [The Military’s AI Fever Is Leading Into Disaster, Critics Say]() - [Dario Amodei Says Trump Is Mad That He Hasn’t Given Him “Dictator-Style Praise”]() - [AI Can Mass-Unmask Pseudonymous Accounts, Research Paper Finds]() - [Children’s Toys Are Shipping With Adult AI Inside Them]() - [OpenAI Says It Will Let Users Add Trusted Contacts to Alert If They Experience a Mental Health Crisis While Using ChatGPT]() - [Cities Are Shredding Their AI Surveillance Contracts en Masse]() - [Mamdani Shuts Down NYC’s Disastrous AI Chatbot]()