The GPUs do/might lose value over time, but perhaps Nvidia is betting that they wont? Going by recent years, their value went up in some cases.
EDIT: Interesting note
> CPUs historically have 5-10 years of useful life , while GPUs in AI datacenters last 1-3 years in practice , despite 6-year accounting assumptions.30,31 Evidence from Google architects shows GPUs at 60-70% utilization survive 1-2 years , with 3 years maximum.31 Meta’s Llama 3 training experienced 9% annual GPU failure rates , suggesting 27% failure over 3 years.31
At the end Nvidia retains ownership of what are probably very low value assets.
Contrast that with car leases: there is a robust market for used cars.
Nvidia is in effect financing the GPUs by not requiring the full payment up front.
Do the lease payments add up to the total cost?