Ambient pays your Mac to run AI jobs — transcribing audio, generating images, and more — while you're away from it.
Put that idle time to work. Ambient helps your Mac connect with the highest-paid jobs it can do. Right now, that's transcribing audio and generating images. We're always looking for more of the highest-earning jobs your Mac can do.
Right now your Mac can run speech transcription and image generation. More model types are coming as we expand, and you'll be able to opt in or out of each category. You get paid per completed job; developers pay a fraction of what the big clouds charge them.
You don't need your Mac's whole capacity all day. Run Ambient overnight, or anytime you're not using full compute. Touch the keyboard and it pauses.
Every job credits your balance. Autopay to your bank, PayPal, or USDC wallet when you clear $10. No tokens, no points.
Estimated from your hardware. Actual earnings may vary.
Pick your model and chip, how many hours it sits idle, and your local power rate. The estimate updates live.
Ambient is designed to keep your computer protected.
Jobs can't touch your files, mic, camera, or keychain. Inputs are encrypted in transit and wiped after every job.
Pauses on keystroke, on unplugged power, and above 75°C. Other Macs in the network pick up the work.
Opt out of any model or model category — image generation, specific models, anything you'd rather not serve. Uploads are checked for safety before being sent to you.
By default, no — Ambient only runs when you aren't using the machine. You set how many minutes of no activity count as idle, and you can tell it to treat video calls and similar as active time. If you turn Ambient on while you're working, you control how much of the Mac it can use; how noticeable that is depends on what you're doing and how high-spec your machine is.
Under AI load, Apple Silicon draws between 15W (M1 MacBook Air) and 110W (M3 Ultra Mac Studio). The calculator above subtracts that cost from your gross earnings at your kWh rate, so the number you see is already net of electricity.
No. Each job is just a model running over a specific piece of input the developer sent us. The input can't reach outside the model to touch your files, disk, mic, camera, or keychain. Data is encrypted in transit and the scratch folder wipes after every job.
Today: speech transcription (Whisper) and image generation (SDXL, Flux). More model categories roll out as we expand the fleet. You choose which categories you're willing to serve, and Ambient picks the highest-paying job from that set for your hardware.
$10 minimum to cash out. Choose bank transfer (via Stripe Connect), PayPal, or USDC. Balances carry forward until you hit the threshold. If you cross the IRS reporting threshold in a year, we'll issue a 1099-NEC.
None. Quit Ambient any time, uninstall any time. Any unpaid balance over $10 is still yours to withdraw.
Not on the near roadmap. Ambient is focused entirely on Apple Silicon (M1 and later), plugged in. That's where the economics work today.
Demand is still thin, so earnings will be below what the calculator suggests. The app updates often as the product evolves. In exchange, we're extremely available — reach out any time and you'll get a human fast.