GPU useful-life sensitivity: 5–6 yr company book policies vs a 4–6 yr published estimate and the guide's 2–3 yr obsolescence stress case (CONTESTED)
5–6 yr book / 4–6 yr estimate / 2–3 yr bear caseforecastcontested
| Value kind | forecast — Forecasts are time-bound outlooks, not specifications; test decisions across plausible scenarios. |
|---|---|
| Scope | Accounting policy, published useful-life estimates and the guide's obsolescence stress case are separate quantities. Book policies cover named asset categories: Amazon servers and networking 5–6 years (a subset shortened to 5 from 2025-01-01), Meta selected assets 5.5 years from fiscal 2025, CoreWeave technology equipment 6 years (effective 2023-01-01). The 2–3 year case is the guide's stress assumption, not a Goldman Sachs finding or a measured fleet life. |
| As of | 2026-04 |
| Source | Goldman Sachs Global Institute, Tracking Trillions (April 2026), p.5, for the 4–6 yr useful-life estimate; Amazon 2025 Form 10-K, Meta and CoreWeave 2025 Form 10-K for book policies; the 2–3 yr case is the guide's stress assumption |
| Review | checking…review by 2027-01-15 · standard cadence |
| Recorded changes | last 2026-10-15 · 6 revisions tracked |
| Claim id | gpu-accounting-book-life-vs-frontier-economic |
Where the guide uses it
- 7.1 Accelerator Landscape & Taxonomy
- 14.9 Hardware Refresh, Depreciation Strategy, Decommissioning & ITAD
← Full numbers register — every date-stamped figure in the guide, with revision history.