Darkbloom, a platform for renting out idle Mac computing power for AI inference, reports a significant decline in user earnings. The drop follows a 77% decrease in the cost of Anthropic tokens, which are central to the platform's workload.
Previously, operators of an M5 Pro Mac Mini with 64GB of memory could earn up to $192 monthly. Currently, the median monthly income for top operators has fallen to $159.86, while the recent token price adjustment reduces daily earnings to approximately $1.23.
The market for AI compute is shifting rapidly, with some estimates suggesting costs drop by 50% each quarter. OpenRouter, the primary client for Darkbloom, has updated its requirements to prioritize decode and prefill speeds, favoring users with high-end Apple Max or Ultra chips.
To address these challenges, Darkbloom is exploring new strategies to maintain network viability. The company plans to diversify beyond AI inference by targeting distributed CI/CD jobs and seeking new clients to reduce reliance on OpenRouter.
