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Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

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Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#101
post #91
post #7

There's a lot of comments on that reddit thread about how awesome this would be as a service. But there's a big problem of trust with this for ML. How do I know you actually ran what I paid you for and not just generated random data that looks right in the shape I wanted it? You could farm it out to two people and if the results disagree, then payment is decided by a third. But then you've just doubled the (paid) wor…

The person who runs the platform could do some calculations themselves and then throw people out if there's a disagreement.

This is quite a good solution. It reminds me of public transport in some European countries. Yes, you can get on board without a ticket. But there will be a guard who will be on board maybe 1 in 10 times and the fines are substantial.

The problem is you can't really issue substantial fines in this instance. I suppose you could pay less for the first few runs where verification is more likely.

I really want this to succeed, and I think these problems can be overcome.

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#102
post #101
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The person who runs the platform could do some calculations themselves and then throw people out if there's a disagreement.

This is quite a good solution. It reminds me of public transport in some European countries. Yes, you can get on board without a ticket. But there will be a guard who will be on board maybe 1 in 10 times and the fines are substantial. The problem is you can't really issue substantial fines in this instance. I suppose you could pay less for the first few runs where verification is more likely. I really want this to su…

You could require people to advance some money, that they only get back if they pass the test.

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#103
post #97

As others have already pointed out, there are trust issues. The seller can fake the computation to return bogus result is one thing. But even if there is no malicious intent, the resulting computation is still ended up bogus result, the malfunction of the hardware. Commodity hardware isn't that reliable and there are so many commodity GPUs in the wild that looks like working but return incorrect result.

all of these issues can be worked around by random validation, sumbitting all/some blocks to multiple people (redundant calculation). This is no different from existing efforts such as SETI@Homr and Folding@Home. The difference being the compensation which increases the incentive for fraud.

The key to the trust issue is not trusting the remote computer, because you can’t. You have to validate somehow.

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#104
post #97

As others have already pointed out, there are trust issues. The seller can fake the computation to return bogus result is one thing. But even if there is no malicious intent, the resulting computation is still ended up bogus result, the malfunction of the hardware. Commodity hardware isn't that reliable and there are so many commodity GPUs in the wild that looks like working but return incorrect result.

This is an excellent point. You're also dealing with a market where demand is so high that GPU's running under constant high load are then resold for more than the MSRP of new ones.

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#105

GPUs are already too expensive for gamers and now you want to do this?!

If you were paying enough that it was worth people buying GPUs just for this, you'd be better off just buying them yourself.

Maybe. Since demand already outstrips supply for GPU's, it might be better to be the scale owner than to buy pickaxes.

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#106
post #65

Disclosure: I work on Google Cloud (and launched Preemptible VMs). Cool! Like you, I wish people would make productive use of spare cycles. Can I suggest you add a note comparing this to BOINC/gridcoin as well? I think your marketplace is a better idea, but because of the security implications dgacmu pointed out downthread, it shouldn’t be treated lightly. Also, I really like your white paper ( https://vectordash.com…

Whats the cheapest hourly for a pre-emptive P100 instance?

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is awesome. Is it necessary that the PC remain fully online throughout the day? I wouldn't mind putting my PC out there but sometimes when I get back from work my modem or router has crapped out and I need to restart things (not the PC), and I've been told it's a few thousand (over 3, actually) to wire up the house with Ethernet so I live with the status quo for now

You can list your computer for as long as you like! It's up to the ML/AI researchers to decide which machines they want to use based on the specs they see, and for how long.

What happens if the computer is taken offline before the task is done?

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#109
post #65

Disclosure: I work on Google Cloud (and launched Preemptible VMs). Cool! Like you, I wish people would make productive use of spare cycles. Can I suggest you add a note comparing this to BOINC/gridcoin as well? I think your marketplace is a better idea, but because of the security implications dgacmu pointed out downthread, it shouldn’t be treated lightly. Also, I really like your white paper ( https://vectordash.com…

Whats the cheapest hourly for a pre-emptive P100 instance?

https://cloud.google.com/products/calculator/#id=fb75f2cf-3f...

$533/mo

Re: Rent out GPUs to AI researchers and make ~2x more than mining cryptocurrencies

#110
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We at Gridmarkets have cracked this one(spare cycles) and are now further enhancing the model.

That's a nice word-salad you got there.

Talking to VCs will do this to a person. I dont know why they can't just speak normal English, but spewing marketese seems to be a rite of passage.
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