Details
Date:
June 19, 2025
Author:
mender
As demand for AI skyrockets, so does the turnover of hardware that powers it. In 2023, approximately 3.85 million data center GPUs (graphics processing units) were shipped globally. That’s a massive jump from the 2.67 million units shipped in 2022.
The reason for this increase is that the high-performance GPUs that are essential for AI workloads have an extremely short service life—typically just one to three years—due to intense computational demands. This short lifespan leads to frequent hardware refresh cycles. This rapid turnover creates both environmental and security challenges. To balance AI sustainability goals with robust data security protocols, companies must establish a secure data destruction strategy. Partnering with an IT asset disposition (ITAD) company ensures that decommissioned AI hardware is handled in a way that protects sensitive data supports responsible recycling and reuse.
Click here to learn more about mender’s ITAD services.
Traditional cloud workloads often spend significant time waiting on data to move between storage and processors or accessing information from memory. Their speed depends largely on how fast data can be read, written, or fetched from memory rather than raw processing power.
In contrast, AI workloads demand massive computational power. They push GPUs and other AI accelerators to operate at peak performance continuously. Instead of waiting for data, these chips perform billions of calculations every second. This intense and constant usage causes the hardware to degrade faster than traditional servers.
Additionally, AI hardware faces rapid obsolescence. Each new generation of chips offers significant improvements in speed and energy efficiency. To stay competitive, organizations upgrade on a much shorter timeframe than traditional data center equipment.
This combination of heavy computational stress and accelerated replacement cycles means AI hardware has a much shorter effective lifespan, leading to a greater volume of retired equipment that must be securely handled.
AI workloads often rely on sensitive, high-value assets that present unique security and compliance risks.
At the heart of any AI system are proprietary model weights (the parameters an AI system uses to make decisions), inference pipelines (the systems that convert input data into outputs), and massive training datasets. These components represent significant time and monetary investments.
In addition, sectors like healthcare, finance, and customer analytics may utilize AI trained on sensitive data, such as personal information, protected health information, or financial records. This data is closely regulated, and if improperly handled or exposed, could lead to legal liabilities and reputational damage.
AI infrastructure introduces unique threat vectors that go beyond conventional cloud security concerns. However, AI security concerns don’t end when the system is taken offline. During decommissioning, SSDs, storage arrays, and accelerators may still contain training data, partial models, or cached inferences. An organization risks sensitive data and intellectual property leaks if this hardware is handled without secure ITAD services.
As AI adoption accelerates, so does its environmental footprint—especially in the form of electronic waste (e-waste). The rapid turnover of AI hardware contributes to a growing volume of discarded electronics, much of it dense with rare earth metals, heavy metals, and potentially sensitive data.
While efforts to create greener data centers have intensified in recent years, those practices must continue once the hardware is decommissioned. Truly sustainable AI infrastructure requires secure end-of-life practices prioritizing environmental stewardship and information security. That includes partnering with providers, like mender, who provide secure ITAD services following industry-recognized standards and offering full transparency through chain-of-custody documentation and auditable destruction methods.
When it comes to AI infrastructure, “secure data destruction” means much more than wiping hard drives. Simply reformatting or repurposing these devices without verified sanitation protocols can expose sensitive intellectual property and regulated data.
Truly secure data destruction starts with a clear chain of custody. From the moment a component is removed from service, its location, handling procedures, and status must be documented. Certified erasure methods must withstand both audit scrutiny and sophisticated recovery attempts. In many cases, physical destruction (e.g., shredding or degaussing) remains the only way to eliminate risk.
A qualified ITAD partner provides more than just recycling. They deliver secure ITAD services, including certificates of data destruction, serialized asset tracking, and full audit trails. These services ensure that companies meet their internal disposal policies and demonstrate adherence to privacy laws.
As AI adoption accelerates, the infrastructure behind it faces increasing pressure—not just to perform, but to be retired securely and responsibly. From proprietary model weights to regulated training data, AI workloads introduce a unique combination of security and sustainability risks at end-of-life. Businesses need a data destruction strategy that keeps pace with the value and sensitivity of modern AI hardware. Secure ITAD services—provided by a certified partner like mender—are essential to protect your IP, customers, and brand.
mender helps companies close the loop on AI infrastructure with secure data destruction and environmentally responsible recycling. Mender delivers end-to-end ITAD services with full chain-of-custody, serialized tracking, and compliance-grade documentation. Please reach out to mender and discover how our recycling and sustainability solutions fit your needs.
