Decentralized AI networks want to turn everyday phones into an alternative to centralized computing infrastructure — but skeptics have their doubts.

The sprawling data centers that underpin the AI revolution have become about as popular as baby toys made from asbestos.

Campaigners around the world highlight the massive amounts of energy and water the infrastructure requires, while markets worry about the revenue required to pay back the $38 billion cost of building a single, one-gigawatt AI data center.

But is there another way to power the AI revolution that’s sitting in your pocket right now?

As of October 2026, there are an estimated 7.68 billion mobile connections worldwide, and billions of smartphones are currently lying unused in pockets, on desks and in drawers.

Each one has a processor, memory and an internet connection, and represent a vast pool of computing power just waiting to be put to work.

So could a network of humble smartphones realistically power AI at scale?

Decentralized AI networks are emerging that aim to turn everyday smartphones into a distributed infrastructure layer, and reduce reliance on costly, centralized data centers.

Acurast says it has onboarded more than 335,000 smartphones to its network. Co-founder Alessandro De Carli says that around 40,000 of those are fully active on an average day, providing computing capacity for tasks ranging from web scraping and cybersecurity to AI inference and agent hosting.

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