Some AI data centers in China are reportedly holding large stocks of China-specific 48GB Nvidia RTX 4090D GPUs, dismantling and refurbishing them, and then reselling them on the market as new cards. DigiTimes Asia reports that a few companies are resorting to letting go of excess computing capacity to generate multiple times the profit compared to renting the GPUs out, which will take them about three to five years to recoup their investment.
This move is a sign of how China’s AI rush is leading to billions of dollars in idle infrastructure. The report states that an AI data center requires a utilization rate of more than 70% to 75% for it to turn a profit. However, activation rates remain below 20%, meaning a significant amount of capacity is left unused and many GPUs remain idle. To help them stay afloat, a few companies are turning to selling their unused assets to generate some quick cash and pay off the bank loans they used to purchase their hardware.
