Run Axiom only on authorized computers

Run Axiom only on computers that you own, or for which you have obtained the owner's permission. Some companies and schools have policies that prohibit using their computers for volunteer computing projects.

How Axiom uses your computer

When you run Axiom on your computer, it uses part of your CPU (or GPU) power, disk space, and network bandwidth. You can control how much of your resources Axiom uses through BOINC's computing preferences.

Your computer runs scientific experiments designed by Axiom's AI Principal Investigator. Each experiment is a self-contained Python script that performs a controlled study (e.g., simulating ecosystems, testing neural network behavior, analyzing mathematical patterns) and returns numerical results. Experiments are numpy-based (CPU) or CuPy-based (GPU, NVIDIA CUDA only).

Tasks typically take 5–15 minutes on a modern CPU. All computation stays within the BOINC slot directory and is cleaned up automatically when tasks finish.

What your results contribute to

Results from all volunteers are collected and analyzed by the AI Principal Investigator, which runs 13 autonomous cycles per day. It computes statistics (means, standard deviations, effect sizes), checks consistency across multiple hosts, and publishes findings on the Scientific Findings page. Each finding receives an AI-generated significance score (0–100).

Axiom has already produced publishable research — see the first auto-generated paper based on 1,463 independent simulations across 17 volunteer hosts.

Credit policy

Credit is FLOPS-based: elapsed time × hardware capability. Equal hardware running equal time = equal credit. Anti-cheat spot-checks validate results each cycle (~every 1.2 hours). Each result earns between 1.0 and 50.0 credit. Zero credit is only given for confirmed cheating.

On March 1, 2026, legacy credit was rescaled (divided by 100) to align with the current credit system. Volunteers' relative rankings were preserved.

Privacy policy

Your account is identified by a name that you choose. This name may be shown on the Axiom website along with your credit and host statistics. If you want to remain anonymous, choose a name that doesn't reveal your identity.

Information about your computer (processor type, memory, GPU model) is recorded and used to match experiments to your hardware. Your computer's domain name and IP address are not publicly displayed.

Your email address is used only for account management and optional newsletters. It is never shown publicly or shared with third parties. You can opt out of emails at any time.

Private messages on the forums are visible only to sender and recipient. Public forum posts are visible to everyone, including non-members.

Is it safe to run Axiom?

Experiments run inside BOINC's sandboxed environment. Scripts are numpy-only Python with no network access or filesystem access outside the task directory. The AI PI runs a security scan every cycle to detect anomalies.

All executable files are versioned and distributed through BOINC's standard update mechanism. The server is behind a firewall with SSH-only administrative access.

As of v6.09, PyInstaller extraction uses the BOINC slot directory (not %TEMP%), and all temporary files are cleaned up when tasks complete. The client does not write files outside the BOINC data directory.

If your computer overheats, reduce CPU/GPU usage through BOINC's computing preferences or pause the project.

Supported platforms

• Windows x86_64 — CPU and GPU (NVIDIA CUDA)
• Linux x86_64 — CPU and GPU (NVIDIA CUDA)
• macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon) — CPU only

AMD and Apple Metal GPU support is not available at this time.

Liability

Axiom assumes no liability for damage to your computer, loss of data, or any other event or condition that may occur as a result of participating in the project. Volunteer at your own discretion.

Other BOINC projects

Other projects use the same BOINC platform. You may want to participate in additional projects so your computer stays busy when Axiom has no work available. These other projects are not associated with Axiom, and we cannot vouch for their security practices. Join them at your own risk. See BOINC project list.

Contact & support

For questions or issues, visit the message boards, check the FAQ, or use the chat assistant available on every page.