RAM is going to AI: OpenAI has secured up to 40% of the market.
OpenAI, the largest AI project, has secured up to 40% of the world's DRAM supplies for the coming years. This is already impacting the RAM market: prices are rising, module availability is declining, and manufacturers are increasingly shifting their focus to enterprise and AI clients.
According to industry sources and the analytical channel Moore's Law Is Dead , OpenAI signed major agreements with Samsung and SK Hynix in early October. These agreements represent approximately 900,000 DRAM wafers per month, equivalent to nearly half of the projected global memory production capacity in 2025. These volumes are earmarked for the Stargate data center project, which has an estimated budget of approximately $500 billion.
What makes this deal unique is that OpenAI is purchasing raw DRAM wafers , not pre-fabricated memory modules , which are not yet sliced and are not tied to specific standards like DDR5 or HBM. This approach allows for flexible resource allocation for different AI tasks, but simultaneously removes significant amounts of memory from the market.
The consequences are already being felt in retail. Suppliers are reporting shortages, wait times for new DDR5 shipments are stretching up to a year, and prices for high-capacity kits have increased several times since the beginning of the year. Some retailers have abandoned fixed prices, pointing out that prices can fluctuate almost daily.
Chip manufacturers are also changing their strategies. Companies are increasingly phasing out consumer product lines and redirecting capacity to more lucrative enterprise contracts and AI infrastructure. This shift is making the memory market less consumer-focused and increasing its dependence on large technology customers.
Analysts expect the tense situation to persist until at least 2026–2027 . Meanwhile, AI projects like Stargate, according to OpenAI itself, will only achieve sustainable profitability closer to 2030 , meaning prolonged competition for resources between the AI industry and the rest of the market.