I'm reminded of the 1983 deal to corner the market on Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice.
I remember it didn’t work out well for Randolph and Mortimer. Sam may pull it out, though, if he just sells the DRAM now while the market is still hot.
Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
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Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#22I wonder if this kills Valve's Steam Machine and Steam Frame
I've been selfishly wondering the same thing. The Frame is on my shortlist (as long as the price wasn't too crazy).
Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like it is, but the question is whether the current Justice Department will do anything about it.
> Seems like it is Do you have a citation for what law is being violated? Or just vibes?
Market manipulation is a crime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You can't buy things to influence the price or the market, only to use or resell.
Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#24More anti sam anti AI propaganda, nothing dirty about this deal
Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Seems like it is Do you have a citation for what law is being violated? Or just vibes?
Market manipulation is a crime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You can't buy things to influence the price or the market, only to use or resell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_manipulation
That'd probably make more sense if there wasn't also 50 other tech companies buying up RAM for the same reason (a sudden huge spike in demand due to AI taking off).
Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Market manipulation is a crime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You can't buy things to influence the price or the market, only to use or resell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_manipulation
That'd probably make more sense if there wasn't also 50 other tech companies buying up RAM for the same reason (a sudden huge spike in demand due to AI taking off).
It's about volume, not a naive count of consumers. Article claims that OpenAI holds contracts for 40% of world DRAM production. That's just really obviously manipulation if they can't actually power those chips, come on.
Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Market manipulation is a crime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You can't buy things to influence the price or the market, only to use or resell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_manipulation
That'd probably make more sense if there wasn't also 50 other tech companies buying up RAM for the same reason (a sudden huge spike in demand due to AI taking off).
They mean to resell them in a different form: as part of their PaaS or SaaS. Per the article, OpenAI is just hoarding the wafers, not purchasing the final product.
Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Market manipulation is a crime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You can't buy things to influence the price or the market, only to use or resell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_manipulation
That'd probably make more sense if there wasn't also 50 other tech companies buying up RAM for the same reason (a sudden huge spike in demand due to AI taking off).
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Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#29There's nothing dirty about this deal. When making a large deal with one vendor he didn't disclose to them that he was making a deal with another vendor. That's pretty normal when you're trying to buy a lot of stuff. Otherwise, they can collude to shake you down. I'm not thrilled about this genre of "guy I don't like does totally normal thing so it's bad". It's too engagement baity. EDIT: Though even that may be wron…
> OpenAI isn’t even bothering to buy finished memory modules! No, their deals are unprecedentedly only for raw wafers — uncut, unfinished, and not even allocated to a specific DRAM standard yet. It’s not even clear if they have decided yet on how or when they will finish them into RAM sticks or HBM! Right now it seems like these wafers will just be stockpiled in warehouses
That is not "totally normal".
Re: Sam Altman’s DRAM Deal
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Seems like it is Do you have a citation for what law is being violated? Or just vibes?
Market manipulation is a crime under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You can't buy things to influence the price or the market, only to use or resell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_manipulation
Do you think OpenAI plans to trade the semiconductor market? This would only apply in that scenario.