Would you host part of an AI data center in your home?

Sunrun is piloting a “distributed AI compute” program that would place compute nodes in customers’ homes with Sunrun solar and battery storage systems, paying participants and then selling the compute to enterprise buyers such as AI companies. The unusual setup could tap unused home energy infrastructure for AI workloads, but it also raises questions about noise, heat, reliability, and whether homes are a viable venue for data center hardware.

A solar and home energy storage company is expanding into AI data centers, but not by building one - instead, it's offering to pay its customers to put its compute units in their homes. Sunrun is launching a pilot program for a new "distributed AI compute" program that will "place numerous compute nodes in homes equipped with Sunrun solar and battery storage systems." Customers will be "compensated" for participating in the pilot program. Sunrun plans to sell the distributed compute power from the nodes to "enterprise compute buyers," like AI companies. It's a new approach to finding resources and space for AI compute infrastructure, as da … Read the full story at The Verge.