io.net is a decentralised GPU computing network that aggregates underutilised GPU capacity from data centres, crypto miners, and individual operators into a unified marketplace for AI and machine learning workloads. Founded in 2023 by Ahmad Shadid and backed by Multicoin Capital, io.net connects buyers of GPU compute (AI companies, ML researchers, startups) with suppliers of idle GPU power — offering compute at 90% lower cost than AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure by unlocking previously wasted capacity. The protocol supports NVIDIA and other GPU types, with workers proving their compute capacity via cryptographic proofs. io.net is one of the leading ‘DePIN’ (Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Network) projects for AI infrastructure. IO is the native token: GPU suppliers earn IO for providing compute; users pay IO to access the network; validators stake IO to secure the network. io.net launched its mainnet in 2024 and rapidly onboarded thousands of GPU providers. The platform specifically targets use cases that need large clusters of GPUs for model training and inference — areas where cloud pricing is prohibitively expensive for smaller AI startups. io.net competes with Akash Network, Render Network, and Nosana in the decentralised compute space. The broader DePIN GPU narrative was supercharged by the 2023-24 AI boom, which created massive demand for compute that traditional cloud providers couldn’t fully satisfy.
Example: An AI startup needs a 256-GPU cluster to fine-tune a large language model for 2 weeks. AWS would charge $180,000. io.net aggregates 256 GPUs from data centres across North America and Europe, providing the same compute for $18,000 — 90% cheaper. The startup saves $162,000; GPU operators who would have had idle capacity earn IO tokens. Both sides benefit from the decentralised marketplace eliminating cloud provider margins.
Learn more: io.net
