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UK — The Register

Darkbloom, which allowed Mac users to rent out their GPUs for AI inference, warns of low payouts

AI1 min read

Darkbloom, a network that let Mac owners rent out their graphics chips (GPUs) to run AI tasks, says payouts are falling. The main reason is that AI token prices have dropped sharply.

What happened

Darkbloom, a project from Eigen Labs in Seattle, lets people with capable Mac computers earn money. Their machines handle AI prompts sent through OpenRouter, an AI model gateway. Now the team says earnings are low and may not recover soon. Prices for AI work have fallen, so each job pays less.

Key numbers

  • About 800 people take part in the network.
  • Median earnings of the top 50 people on the leaderboard: about $5.26 per day, or $159.86 per month.
  • Best-case estimate for a Mac mini with an M5 Pro chip and 64 GB of RAM: up to $192 per month, with full use all day, every day.
  • Token prices reportedly fell 54 percent since May.
  • Anthropic's price per million tokens fell 77 percent, from $2.65 on May 1, 2026 to $0.62 on October 22, 2026.

Why prices matter here

An AI token is a small piece of text that an AI model reads or writes. Companies charge for tokens. When many more tokens are produced, prices drop. Darkbloom's team says data centers have become cheaper and more productive, which has flooded the market with tokens. Darkbloom's earlier price edge has disappeared, so they cannot simply cut prices further without earning less themselves.

Why it matters

The story shows that renting out home computers for AI work may not pay well for most people. Owners with older or weaker Macs may find it is not worth running. The team is now shifting toward more popular AI models, and other work such as distributed CI/CD jobs, which are automated software build and test tasks. It may also focus on clusters of high-end Mac Studios.

What to watch

  • Whether token prices keep falling or become stable.
  • Whether OpenRouter's routing shifts toward speed and quality instead of price.
  • Whether Darkbloom's plans for model demand and new kinds of work bring in more money.

Glossary

Darkbloom
A network that lets people rent out their Mac computers to run AI tasks and get paid.
Eigen Labs
The Seattle tech company that created Darkbloom.
Token
A small piece of text that an AI model reads or writes. AI companies charge by the token.
OpenRouter
An AI model gateway that sends AI prompts to different models and computers.

Same story, different eyes

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