What is GPUs for Good?
GPUs for Good is a charitable pilot by Project VIC International and SUMURI, collecting and repurposing excess graphics cards (GPUs) to help the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) taskforce accelerate digital investigations and rescue children. Donors get a tax receipt. All donated GPUs are tested and shipped to law enforcement in need.
GPUs are FREE to ICAC task force investigators and digital forensics examiners who request them. We collaborate with ICAC Commanders to ensure donated GPUs go to the places with the greatest need and ability to put the donated GPU to work. We do ask requesting departments to contribute to the cost of shipping the GPU if possible, but this is not required.
Who benefits from my GPU donation?
Every donated GPU goes to an ICAC investigator in the USA who needs hardware to run advanced AI and machine learning tools. Many law enforcement agencies lack the resources to upgrade, resulting in slower investigations. Your donation directly supports child protection.
Which kinds of GPUs can be donated?
Gamers, crypto miners, companies, and agencies can donate any surplus GPU—even older models are valuable and can radically improve investigation speed. For questions on compatibility, contact our support. Ideally, we are looking for NVIDIA GPU cards that are models RTX 2070 or newer. We are looking for GPU cards that have at least 6 GB of memory.
Why do we need to crowdsource GPUs when there are so many cloud datacenters available? Can't crimes against children investigators and digital forensics examiners use the cloud resources?
Crowdsourcing GPUs is essential because law enforcement agencies cannot legally or safely use commercial cloud services to process evidence such as child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Even government cloud options are often cost-prohibitive and legally uncertain for these investigations. Local police and forensic examiners need dedicated in-house hardware and GPUs to run high-speed computer vision models that accelerate review of vast digital caseloads, but most departments lack the budget and resources to acquire adequate GPUs, making community donations critical.
US Federal law strictly prohibits copying, transmitting, or storing CSAM outside secure forensic environments, including commercial cloud storage—doing so would itself be a criminal act in the United States. Even specialized government cloud platforms for evidence have costly or ambiguous legal restrictions, requiring rigorous compliance and direct law enforcement control, which most local departments cannot afford or sustain.
CSAM and related evidence must be examined inside facilities physically and administratively controlled by the investigating agency. This ensures legal chain of custody, protects victims, and guarantees privacy and data integrity. Commercial cloud providers do not meet these requirements for contraband material, while a government cloud solution is rarely available to smaller local agencies and rarely fits their caseload needs.
A single child exploitation case may contain tens of thousands (or more) of images and videos, and examiners often manage multiple complex cases at once—requiring multimedia analysis and rapid detection using computer vision or language classifier models running on GPUs. Local law enforcement typically lacks the necessary GPU resources, meaning the ability to quickly process evidence and identify victims suffers unless GPU donations are made directly to these agencies.
GPUs for Good only distributes donated GPUs to law enforcement actively investigating crimes against children. These resources are used exclusively to empower local police and sheriff’s offices, supplementing their digital forensic labs in ways cloud services cannot legally or practically serve.
What is the donation process?
Find your excess GPU. Fill out our donation form on the website. Ship the GPU to Project VIC International for testing. We notify you once it’s received, tested, and shipped to ICAC.
What is involved in testing donated GPUs?
When we recieve a donated GPU, we inventory it and then test it using our GPU testing bench which includes custom software that we wrote. The testing software puts the GPU under different operating loads. We ensure that the GPU is able to regulate its temperature, and then we use the testing software to publish a report that we include with the GPU when we deliver it to the law enforcement requestor.
Can recipients of my donated GPU see any of the data that I processed using the GPU?
No. Recipients of a donated GPU cannot see or recover any of the data you processed using that GPU. GPUs use volatile memory (VRAM) to temporarily hold data while powered on, but all data is erased when the GPU loses power—meaning it does not retain or store any files, images, or other user data after shutdown. This is similar to how RAM works in a computer; once the system is powered off, all data in GPU memory is lost and is impossible to recover by future users.
Will I receive updates about my donation?
Yes! Contributors are notified when their GPU is received, tested, and deployed. We also post regular performance updates on our website and social channels.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Project VIC International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Eligible donors receive tax receipts for their donated hardware.
How does my donation help investigators?
A single GPU can enable law enforcement to use AI tools that multiply the volume and speed of review—up to 30x faster for images and videos. This means more cases solved and more children protected.
What are the initiative’s goals?
Collect 100+ GPUs during the pilot phase. Ship up to 100 GPUs to ICAC officers in need. Get verification from 50 officers who received and used a donated GPU. Secure financial donations for pilot operational costs.
How long will the pilot run?
GPU Collection & Testing: Sept 1, 2025 – Jan 31, 2026
Shipping to ICAC: Jan 1 – Mar 30, 2026
Performance Analysis & Publication: April 2026
Can I contribute financially instead of donating a GPU?
Yes! Financial donations help cover shipping and ancillary costs, increasing our reach and impact. Visit the 'Contribute Financially' section on our website.
What happens after the pilot?
If we meet key performance indicators, a longer-term and wider follow-on program may be launched.
Who is behind GPUs for Good?
The initiative is a partnership between Project VIC International and SUMURI.
Where can I ask more questions or get support?
Contact us through our website's "Help" button or via email support@projectvic.zendesk.com.
