io.net (IO) is a 'DePIN' project (decentralized physical infrastructure) that builds a global, decentralized network of GPUs — the specialized chips that power AI. Training and running AI models needs enormous GPU power, which is expensive and often scarce from big cloud providers. io.net pools together idle GPUs from data centers, independent operators and crypto miners around the world and rents them out as on-demand computing clusters, reportedly far cheaper than renting from Amazon's cloud. It runs on Solana. IO is the token used to pay for compute and to reward the people supplying GPUs. Its bet is that decentralized, cheaper GPU power can grab a slice of the exploding AI-compute market.
Where it stands today: io.net has grown into the largest decentralized GPU network, aggregating over 100,000 GPUs across 138 countries and renting AI clusters well below big-cloud prices. Importantly, it's showing real business traction — closing millions in enterprise deals with actual companies running production AI workloads, with that demand verifiable on-chain. Its biggest recent change is a new tokenomics model (the 'Incentive Dynamic Engine') that ties token issuance and burns directly to real network revenue — designed to stop the endless inflation that plagues many DePIN tokens by only releasing tokens as real demand justifies. So today it's one of the more credible 'AI + crypto' infrastructure plays, with genuine usage and a smarter economic model, but still small and unproven at scale.