Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Agreement") constitute a legally binding contract between you ("User," "Provider," or "Customer," as applicable) and Hyphan ("Hyphan," "we," "us," or "our"), operated by Miles Huffman, Chico, California, USA.

By creating an account, installing the Hyphan daemon, accessing the Hyphan API, or otherwise using any Hyphan service, you agree to be bound by this Agreement in its entirety. If you do not agree, you must not use the Service.

This Agreement applies to two categories of users: Compute Providers (individuals who install the Hyphan daemon and contribute GPU capacity) and API Customers (businesses or developers who access the Hyphan inference API). Provisions marked as applicable to a specific category apply only to that category; all other provisions apply to both.

You must be at least 18 years of age and have full legal capacity to enter into contracts in your jurisdiction. By accepting this Agreement, you represent and warrant that you meet these requirements.

Compute Providers additionally represent that: (a) you own or have explicit written authorization to monetize the GPU hardware you connect to the network; (b) your participation does not violate any employer policy, license agreement, or applicable law; and (c) your internet connection and hardware are operated in compliance with your ISP's terms of service.

API Customers additionally represent that they are duly authorized to bind the legal entity on whose behalf they are accepting this Agreement, if applicable.

Hyphan operates a distributed GPU compute network. Compute Providers install a lightweight daemon ("Hyphan Node") that contributes idle GPU capacity to the network. Hyphan aggregates this capacity and makes it available as a unified AI inference API to API Customers.

The Hyphan Node performs CUDA-based inference workloads using locally cached model files downloaded from Hyphan's content delivery network. The Node does not execute arbitrary code, access your filesystem beyond a designated model cache directory, or make network connections other than to the Hyphan gateway via an encrypted WebSocket tunnel.

Compute Providers are never identified to or commercially exposed to any third party. Hyphan collects all revenue and compensates Providers directly. Your identity and hardware remain private.

The Hyphan daemon enforces the following hardware protection limits on your machine: (a) a 75% GPU power cap via nvidia-smi; and (b) an automatic thermal failsafe at 85°C that initiates an orderly shutdown of inference workloads. These limits are enforced locally on your hardware.

You agree not to circumvent, disable, modify, or override these safety mechanisms. Any attempt to do so constitutes a material breach of this Agreement and grounds for immediate account termination and forfeiture of unpaid earnings.

You are solely responsible for ensuring your hardware and operating environment are adequate for sustained GPU workloads, including but not limited to: sufficient airflow and cooling, stable power delivery, and hardware in good working order. Hyphan's safety limits are designed in good faith to protect against overheating under normal conditions but do not constitute a warranty against hardware damage arising from pre-existing defects, inadequate cooling infrastructure, or other conditions outside Hyphan's control.

You represent that your participation does not violate any applicable law regarding energy consumption, noise, heat generation, or use of residential internet connections for commercial purposes in your jurisdiction.

Hyphan compensates Compute Providers through a pooled earnings model. Every 10 minutes, Hyphan distributes compute earnings to all online and healthy nodes, weighted by GPU tier and uptime. Your individual share is proportional to your contribution relative to the total network in that interval.

Your share is calculated as: (your GPU tier weight × your uptime minutes) ÷ (sum of all node weights × uptime minutes). GPU tier weights are: Tier 1 (8–12GB VRAM): 1.0×; Tier 2 (13–20GB VRAM): 1.6×; Tier 3 (20GB+ VRAM): 2.4×. Hyphan's compute pricing reflects current market rates and is displayed as an estimated per-hour rate in your dashboard. Hyphan reserves the right to adjust tier weights, thresholds, or the compute rate upon 14 days' notice.

Payouts are processed via Stripe Connect. To receive payment, you must complete Stripe's identity verification and link a bank account. The minimum payout threshold is $10.00 USD. Payouts will be initiated upon your request once your balance reaches this threshold. Hyphan does not issue 1099s; Stripe handles all tax reporting obligations for payouts processed through its platform.

Earnings credited to your ledger account are held in escrow pending Stripe verification. Hyphan reserves the right to withhold or delay disbursement if we have reasonable grounds to suspect fraud, abuse, fraudulent telemetry submissions, or a material breach of this Agreement. In confirmed cases of fraud, we reserve the right to forfeit the withheld balance.

Estimated earnings displayed on the Hyphan website (e.g., $20–$80/month) are illustrative projections based on current demand, representative hardware, and average uptime. They are not guarantees of income. Actual earnings depend on network demand, your GPU tier, your uptime, and other variable factors. Hyphan makes no representation that any specific level of earnings will be achieved.

Subject to your compliance with this Agreement and payment of applicable fees, Hyphan grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access the Hyphan inference API ("API") for your internal business purposes or to build products and services.

You agree not to use the API to: (a) generate content that is illegal under applicable law, including without limitation child sexual abuse material, content that incites violence, or material that violates intellectual property rights; (b) attempt to reverse engineer, extract, or reproduce the model weights or inference outputs at scale for the purpose of training competing models; (c) circumvent rate limits, authentication, or access controls; (d) resell or sublicense API access without Hyphan's express written consent; (e) generate spam, disinformation, or content designed to deceive or defraud; or (f) use the API in any manner that violates applicable export control or sanctions laws.

API access is provided on a best-efforts basis during the beta period. Hyphan does not guarantee specific uptime, latency, or throughput SLAs to API Customers during the beta period. Production SLA terms will be published separately upon general availability.

You are solely responsible for your use of the API and for ensuring that your applications and end users comply with this Acceptable Use Policy. Hyphan may suspend or terminate API access immediately if we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this section.

Hyphan retains all right, title, and interest in and to the Hyphan platform, gateway infrastructure, daemon software, and all related intellectual property. No license to any Hyphan intellectual property is granted by this Agreement except as expressly stated herein.

The AI model weights cached by the Hyphan Node are subject to the open-source licenses under which they were originally released (e.g., Meta Llama Community License, Apache 2.0, MIT). Hyphan makes no claim of ownership over these weights. Your use of inference outputs may be subject to restrictions under those upstream licenses.

By providing feedback, suggestions, or error reports regarding the Service, you grant Hyphan a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use such feedback for any purpose.

Each party agrees to keep confidential any non-public information disclosed by the other party that is designated as confidential or that reasonably should be understood to be confidential given the nature of the information and circumstances of disclosure ("Confidential Information").

Hyphan's Confidential Information includes, without limitation: API keys, gateway architecture, routing logic, pricing structures, and non-public earnings data. Your Confidential Information includes the contents of inference requests processed through your API key.

Inference privacy: Hyphan does not log or store the content of inference requests or responses. Requests are routed through the network and returned to the caller without being persisted. Token counts and latency metadata are logged for billing and system health purposes only.

This Agreement commences when you first create a Hyphan account or use any Hyphan service and continues until terminated.

By you: Compute Providers may terminate at any time by uninstalling the Hyphan Node from Windows (via Add/Remove Programs or the Hyphan dashboard). API Customers may terminate by ceasing all API access and deleting their account. Any balance above $10.00 held for a Compute Provider at termination will be disbursed in the next regularly scheduled payout run.

By Hyphan: Hyphan may suspend or terminate your account immediately and without prior notice for: (a) material breach of this Agreement; (b) fraud or submission of false telemetry; (c) circumvention of hardware safety limits; (d) violation of the Acceptable Use Policy; or (e) any activity that Hyphan reasonably believes poses a legal, security, or reputational risk to Hyphan or its users.

Sections 7 (Intellectual Property), 8 (Confidentiality), 10 (Disclaimers), 11 (Limitation of Liability), 12 (Indemnification), 13 (Dispute Resolution), and 14 (General) survive termination of this Agreement.

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

HYPHAN DOES NOT WARRANT THAT: (A) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE; (B) ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED; (C) THE SERVICE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS; OR (D) ANY SPECIFIC LEVEL OF EARNINGS, UPTIME, OR INFERENCE THROUGHPUT WILL BE ACHIEVED.

YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL HYPHAN BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, HARDWARE DAMAGE, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, EVEN IF HYPHAN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, HYPHAN'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED: (A) FOR COMPUTE PROVIDERS, THE TOTAL EARNINGS CREDITED TO YOUR ACCOUNT IN THE 90 DAYS PRECEDING THE CLAIM; OR (B) FOR API CUSTOMERS, THE TOTAL FEES PAID TO HYPHAN IN THE 90 DAYS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR $100.00 USD, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU IN FULL.

Informal Resolution: Before initiating formal proceedings, each party agrees to attempt to resolve any dispute informally by providing written notice to the other party at hello@hyphan.io. The parties will negotiate in good faith for 30 days following such notice.

Binding Arbitration: If informal resolution fails, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Service will be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules (for Compute Providers) or Commercial Arbitration Rules (for API Customers), as applicable. The arbitration will be conducted in English, seated in Butte County, California, USA.

Class Action Waiver: TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO BRING OR PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION AGAINST HYPHAN. Each dispute must be brought solely on an individual basis.

Exception: Either party may seek emergency injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent irreparable harm pending arbitration.

Governing Law: This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law provisions, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs all provisions relating to arbitration.

Entire Agreement: This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Hyphan with respect to the Service and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties.

Amendments: Hyphan reserves the right to modify this Agreement at any time. For material changes, we will provide at least 14 days' written notice via email before the modified Agreement takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of the modified terms.

Severability: If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Waiver: Failure to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer this Agreement or any of your rights or obligations hereunder without Hyphan's prior written consent. Hyphan may freely assign this Agreement in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all of its assets.

Force Majeure: Hyphan shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance resulting from causes beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, labor disputes, government actions, or internet infrastructure failures.