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Outlook: $60 billion in AI servers deploying now will create ITAD’s most complex EOL challenge by 2029

Dell guided to $60 billion in AI server revenue for its current fiscal year alone. Lenovo reports a $21 billion AI server pipeline with more than 5,800 active customer deployments. Compliance Standards projects that systems deployed during the 2025–2027 build-out will begin reaching end-of-life in significant volumes around 2029–2031. Because these servers are GPU-dense, often liquid-cooled and packed with high-value materials, the brief describes what is coming as "the most complex and highest-value recycling and urban mining challenge the sector has encountered." GPU firmware and AI model storage sit outside the scope of current data destruction standards, and the report calls for documented End-of-Life (EOL) protocols to be developed and in place before that retirement wave begins. Continue reading below.
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Dell guided to $60 billion in AI server revenue for its current fiscal year alone. Lenovo reports a $21 billion AI server pipeline with more than 5,800 active customer deployments. Compliance Standards projects that systems deployed during the 2025–2027 build-out will begin reaching end-of-life in significant volumes around 2029–2031. Because these servers are GPU-dense, often liquid-cooled and packed with high-value materials, the brief describes what is coming as “the most complex and highest-value recycling and urban mining challenge the sector has encountered.” GPU firmware and AI model storage sit outside the scope of current data destruction standards, and the report calls for documented End-of-Life (EOL) protocols to be developed and in place before that retirement wave begins.

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Author: David Daoud | Principal Analyst

David Daoud has researched the mainstream IT hardware market since 1996 and expanded into hardware disposition research in 2003. He has spearheaded the creation of IDC’s GRADE certification. Since then, David has been providing consulting and expert advice to companies looking to establish best practice in their IT equipment decommissioning and helped leading ITAD service providers assess demand, understand competition, and forecast what’s to come. David is currently the Principal Analyst at Compliance Standards, which focuses entirely on the end-of-life of IT equipment. He can be reached at 754-229-0095 or at ddaoud@compliance-standards.com
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