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

AINewsTechWould you host part of an AI data center in your home?Sunrun’s building a ‘nationwide compute network’ that will run AI from small compute nodes in customers’ homes.Sunrun’s building a ‘nationwide compute network’ that will run AI from small compute nodes in customers’ homes.by Stevie BonifieldJul 10, 2026, 1:20 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: SunrunPart OfAll the latest updates on AI data centerssee all updates Stevie Bonifield is a news writer covering all things consumer tech. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag writing news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI.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 data centers face increasing pushback across the country. A survey released in May showed that over 70 percent of Americans oppose construction of new data centers in their area, often because of concerns over pollution, noise, and water and electricity use.Rather than consolidating computing power into one large data center, Sunrun’s program would spread it out in smaller compute units dotted all over the country. Sunrun says it previously ran a “successful” proof of concept for this program, but it’s not yet clear how well it will work. This is a totally new area for Sunrun, which mainly focuses on home energy storage. Sunrun’s 1.1 million customers can sign up for the pilot program waitlist if they’re open to hosting a compute node. The company says it “expects to complete the pilot over the coming months and will assess results” before rolling out the program more widely.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Stevie BonifieldAINewsTechMore in: All the latest updates on AI data centersThis week in the big AI data center buildout.Jay PetersJul 8Anthropic signs 20-year lease agreement for an AI data center in Kentucky.Emma RothJul 6This week in the big AI data center buildout.Jay PetersJul 1Most PopularMost PopularI spent a week using the Trump phone — it sucksPolestar owners left ‘holding the bag’ after EV brand pulls out of the USXreal’s new AR glasses are way cheaper and almost just rightApple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware secretsI’m filling in at The Verge for 6 weeks. Ask me anything!The Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Advertiser Content FromThis is the title for the native ad