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

Darkbloom, a distributed inference network that allows Mac users to rent their GPU for AI jobs, is facing challenges as token prices have declined by 54 percent since May. The network, developed by Seattle-based Eigen Labs, previously estimated that a Mac mini with an M5 Pro chip and 64 GB of RAM could generate $192 per month, but median earnings for participants are only around $5.26 per day, $159.86 per month, or $1,918.50 per year.

Eigen Labs researcher Kydo explained that low earnings are unlikely to improve soon due to structural changes in the inference market. These changes include cheaper data centers, increased output from NVIDIA clusters, and reduced prices that have washed away Darkbloom's previous price advantage. In response, Darkbloom is adapting by focusing on higher-demand models and exploring new types of compute work, such as distributed CI/CD jobs.

However, participants with older Mac hardware may find inference jobs less worthwhile, and the network is expected to see more Mac machines leave as earning opportunities change.