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Software·2 min read

Sam Altman RAM emails: a dev's script nags him daily

Developer Iain Kay wrote a Bash script that emails Sam Altman once a day whenever his Linux PC has idle RAM. Each message signs off as a concerned RAM owner.

A laptop terminal showing a Bash script next to RAM memory modules on a desk.
Image: t3n Magazin
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Sam Altman now gets a polite email whenever a stranger's computer has too much unused memory. The sender is a Bash script, and the joke is aimed squarely at the OpenAI CEO's comments about RAM.

The trigger was an appearance on the podcast "Cheeky Pint". Altman talked about the RAM shortage and said that, seen from a global distribution perspective, it is terrible that everyone has a piece of the world's limited DRAM supply in their own computer, where it is used only about five percent of the time. For scarce supply, he argued, you want maximum use in the cloud. Later he said on X that his words were taken out of context and that he wants everyone to be able to fit as much RAM as possible into their machine. Many tech fans were not calmed by that.

One of them is developer Iain Kay. He wrote a script that monitors RAM use on a Linux machine. If more than ten percent of the memory sits unused, it drafts an email to Altman and sends it. One example reads: "Hi Sam, please don't be alarmed, but there are 8.6 gigabytes of RAM on my desk that are not in a data centre. That is 56.2 percent of what is installed." It ends with the sign-off "responsibly hoarding, a concerned RAM owner".

How often does the script email Altman?

Once a day at most. The subject lines and wording vary, and every message includes a simple note: "If you want this to stop, reply to this email." Kay's own line on the project: "We hoard RAM, we are not animals."

Can you copy the project?

Kay would rather you didn't. His reasoning: one email a day from one person is a joke, but tens of thousands of messages are a denial-of-service attack with better content. Anyone curious can still try the script in a test run, which shows the different email phrasings without sending anything. Kay provides instructions on GitHub.

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Tags:sam altmanopenairambash scriptgithubiain kay

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