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AIQuiet 11d · day 12

Darkbloom's Mac GPU inference payouts collapse as AI token prices crash

Eigen Labs' network for renting out Mac GPUs for AI inference says earnings have fallen to a few cents or dollars a day and likely won't recover.

newest coverage 10d agosummary written 10d ago4 pieces NewswiresRedditGoogle NewsMastodon

What to know

  • Darkbloom's roughly 800 Mac GPU providers now earn a few cents to a few dollars a day, down from an August pitch of $120-200 a month per machine.
  • Eigen Labs researcher Kydo says the drop stems from a commoditized token market: NVIDIA cluster output is up ~20x this year, letting data centers cut prices while staying profitable.
  • Kydo expects earnings not to recover for most providers and says machines without high-end Max or Ultra Apple Silicon chips are no longer worth running.
  • Darkbloom is shifting strategy toward steering participants to in-demand models and exploring other compute work like distributed CI/CD jobs, and toward clusters of high-end Mac Studios using RDMA over Thunderbolt.

“The market caught up to our price. We could go lower, but then most of you would earn even less nothing.”

Kydo, Eigen Labs researcher · The Register ↗ · Oct 29

Kydo Eigen Labs researcherGajesh Naik Eigen Labs engineerEigen Labs Seattle-based company behind DarkbloomDarkbloom Distributed Mac GPU inference network

Darkbloom's Mac GPU inference payouts collapse as AI token prices crash
theregister.com

How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 2 pieces in 3h at Oct 30, 3 PM; 4 pieces over 12 days (2 articles · 2 posts) Oct 30, 3 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Google News 1, Newswires 1Oct 30, 6 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Oct 30, 9 PM — quietOct 31, 12 AM — quietOct 31, 3 AM — quietOct 31, 6 AM — quietOct 31, 9 AM — quietOct 31, 12 PM — quietOct 31, 3 PM — quietOct 31, 6 PM — quietOct 31, 9 PM — quietNov 1, 12 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 1, 2 AM — quietNov 1, 5 AM — quietNov 1, 8 AM — quietNov 1, 11 AM — quietNov 1, 2 PM — quietNov 1, 5 PM — quietNov 1, 8 PM — quietNov 1, 11 PM — quietNov 2, 2 AM — quietNov 2, 5 AM — quietNov 2, 8 AM — quietNov 2, 11 AM — quietNov 2, 2 PM — quietNov 2, 5 PM — quietNov 2, 8 PM — quietNov 2, 11 PM — quietNov 3, 2 AM — quietNov 3, 5 AM — quietNov 3, 8 AM — quietNov 3, 11 AM — quietNov 3, 2 PM — quietNov 3, 5 PM — quietNov 3, 8 PM — quietNov 3, 11 PM — quietNov 4, 2 AM — quietNov 4, 5 AM — quietNov 4, 8 AM — quietNov 4, 11 AM — quietNov 4, 2 PM — quietNov 4, 5 PM — quietNov 4, 8 PM — quietNov 4, 11 PM — quietNov 5, 2 AM — quietNov 5, 5 AM — quietNov 5, 8 AM — quietNov 5, 11 AM — quietNov 5, 2 PM — quietNov 5, 5 PM — quietNov 5, 8 PM — quietNov 5, 11 PM — quietNov 6, 2 AM — quietNov 6, 5 AM — quietNov 6, 8 AM — quietNov 6, 11 AM — quietNov 6, 2 PM — quietNov 6, 5 PM — quietNov 6, 8 PM — quietNov 6, 11 PM — quietNov 7, 2 AM — quietNov 7, 5 AM — quietNov 7, 8 AM — quietNov 7, 11 AM — quietNov 7, 2 PM — quietNov 7, 5 PM — quietNov 7, 8 PM — quietNov 7, 11 PM — quietNov 8, 2 AM — quietNov 8, 5 AM — quietNov 8, 8 AM — quietNov 8, 11 AM — quietNov 8, 2 PM — quietNov 8, 5 PM — quietNov 8, 8 PM — quietNov 8, 11 PM — quietNov 9, 2 AM — quietNov 9, 5 AM — quietNov 9, 8 AM — quietNov 9, 11 AM — quietNov 9, 2 PM — quietNov 9, 5 PM — quietNov 9, 8 PM — quietNov 9, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 11 AM — quietToday, 2 PM — quietToday, 5 PM — quietToday, 8 PM — quiet 1–23
Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6Nov 7Nov 8Nov 9yesterdaynow · 9:51 PM ET
  1. 3

    Follow-up piece contrasts August promises with October reality

    A Lockergnome write-up, shared via Mastodon, lines up Eigen's August claim of $120-200/month per machine against the current reality of cents-to-dollars-a-day payouts, and highlights Kydo's prediction that smaller Macs will leave the network.

    “The next stretch will be a fight, and I expect many machines will leave and Slack will get quieter.”
    — Kydo
    • ChrisPirillo@mastodon.social

      Darkbloom Paid Mac Owners to Run AI Inference. Now Most Earn a Few Cents to a Few Dollars a Day https:// lockergnome.com/darkbloom-rent -mac-gpu-ai-inference-payouts-collapse-cents-a-day/ # darkbloom # EigenLabs # openrouter # tech

      ChrisPirillo@mastodon.socialMastodon10d agoview on Mastodon ↗
  2. 2

    Story recirculates on Reddit as token-price context spreads

    The Register's report on Darkbloom's declining payouts was reposted to Reddit, carrying forward the same figures on token price declines and median earnings.

  3. 1

    Kydo attributes the collapse to cheaper data centers and routing shifts

    Kydo explained that data center output per NVIDIA cluster is up roughly 20x this year, letting providers cut prices 90 percent and still profit, while OpenRouter is also shifting away from price-based routing toward decode speed and quantization.

    “Data centers have become cheaper. Output per NVIDIA cluster is up ~20x this year, and their margins are wide enough to cut prices 90 percent and still profit at 50 percent.”
    — Kydo
  4. background

    Darkbloom warns participants of low, unlikely-to-recover payouts — The Register reports that Darkbloom's roughly 800 participants now earn only a few cents to a few dollars a day, with the top-50 median at $5.26/day, as Eigen Labs researcher Kydo tells providers in Slack that earnings have fallen and structural changes in the inference market caused it.

  5. background

    Eigen Labs pitches Darkbloom as a lucrative Mac GPU rental scheme — Eigen engineer Gajesh Naik told The Register that providers averaged $120-200 per month per machine, with top earners making $15-26 a day, and the network had more than 900 registered providers.