Theta Labs has launched EdgeCloud for Mobile, allowing users to contribute their smartphones’ GPU power as nodes in its decentralized network and earn TFUEL tokens.

According to a press release shared with crypto.news, EdgeCloud for Mobile aims to harness the computing resources of the roughly 3.9 billion active Android devices worldwide to bolster its decentralized cloud computing network.

Theta EdgeCloud is a DePIN-powered hybrid cloud-edge computing platform that utilizes over 30,000 distributed nodes to offer scalable, cost-effective GPU computing resources. With smartphones becoming increasingly powerful and capable of handling complex computations, the platform aims to capitalize on these capabilities.

According to Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of Theta Labs, by allowing smartphones to become a part of its decentralized network of nodes, the platform would be able to “fundamentally transform the scale” at which it operates.

“By growing from 30,000 PC nodes to potentially millions of mobile devices, this move significantly boosts our network’s capabilities. Each device adds to our distributed GPU power,” Liu added.

These devices will assist with AI computations, like video object detection, by running small, parallel tasks. Theta Labs estimates that if a mere 30,000 Android devices contribute their GPU power for just eight hours a day, they can generate 240,000 hours of computational work in a single day.

The EdgeCloud mobile application, already available on the Google Play Store, gives users the flexibility to only share resources when the device is plugged in or connected to a wifi network, ensuring minimal battery drain and data usage while contributing to the network and generating passive income.

Users get TFUEL tokens, the native token of Theta Network, in exchange for committing their resources. At press time, the altcoin was up 98.8% over the past year.

The application will support any Android phone or tablet manufactured after 2020, with no geographic restrictions.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Theta EdgeCloud has already secured several partners in academia that utilize the platform’s resources for advanced AI research across fields like media, healthcare, bioinformatics, and finance. The latest to tap into the DePIN-powered network was the Seoul Women’s University.