Thieves steal Nvidia-labeled trailers expecting massive AI GPU payday, but score 40,000 pounds of sand instead

PlusAI, an autonomous trucking startup, is working with Nvidia to develop its systems and has several trucks and trailers marked with the logos of both companies. This likely caught the attention of thieves who were looking to score big on AI GPUs, with Wired reporting that two of the startup’s trailers got stolen and were found at another location. However, the joke’s on the criminals, as they discovered that the two stolen units contained 20,000 pounds of sand each.

The AI data center construction boom has made PC components like RAM and GPUs insanely expensive, which has led to a rise in petty theft involving these components. Enterprises and startups are being targeted, too, especially as they build data centers and local AI servers with millions of dollars’ worth of equipment and hardware. We’ve already seen cargo heists of copper cable and other hardware worth $1.3 million, while other criminals have become more brazen, pushing or spinning security escorts off the road so they can get away with a truck’s worth of AI GPUs.

While PlusAI is partnered with Nvidia, it also uses simulated cargo loads for real-world tests, allowing the company to model how a fully loaded semi-trailer would react to various road conditions. The startup’s truck cabs, which likely had advanced AI hardware installed, were parked securely inside its warehouse, while the trailers were apparently left outside and secured with hand locks. “PlusAI uses simulated loads in its trailers to assist with research and development testing,” company spokesperson Lauren Kwan told Wired, adding that they were recovered with “40,000 pounds of sand intact.”

Interestingly, the discovery of the theft was accidentally made by one of the startup’s top executives, who received a message from an acquaintance saying that they saw the trailers, which they described as “trucks,” near their workplace. This likely got the executive concerned, as that location was half a mile away from PlusAI’s warehouse, which led to the cops getting called. As for the prospective criminals, they probably left the crime scene disappointed — they thought they were getting a huge payday from two truckloads’ worth of smart silicon, but they ended up with 20 tons of dumb sand instead.

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