Microsoft might start paying GPU owners to train AI on their graphics cards

GPU prices have increased significantly over the past year, and it’s mainly due to the high demand for memory from AI data centers. These data centers are used to train large AI models, and they are equipped with hundreds or thousands of expensive GPUs. However, it seems that you might be able to earn some money by letting Microsoft use your GPU to train AI; at least that’s what a newly discovered patent says.

Microsoft originally filed a patent titled “Opportunistic Micro-training on Edge Devices Using Spare GPU Utilization” in April 2025, and it was published this month, on November 5. This patent focuses on a system that would allow Microsoft to use spare computing power from gaming PCs, laptops, or even smartphones to help train AI.

How would it work?

For example, if you own a…