The Liberty Daily 
(The Daily Caller)—Thieves looking to strike artificial intelligence gold stole Nvidia-branded trailers in California last week — but their haul turned out to be 40,000 pounds of sand.
The thieves stole two trailers bearing Nvidia and autonomous trucking company PlusAI logos outside the companies’ Newark, California, facility, according to WIRED. But instead of graphics processing units (GPUs) or other artificial intelligence equipment, each trailer was loaded with roughly 20,000 pounds of sand.
Nvidia and PlusAI have partnered to develop autonomous trucking technology, with the sand used to simulate cargo loads during testing, WIRED reported. The thieves allegedly broke the trailers’ hand locks before taking them, but abandoned the trailers roughly half a mile away. PlusAI recovered both trailers and their decidedly less valuable cargo.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
The expensive part of the operation was left untouched. PlusAI’s autonomous trucks, which contain the technology used for testing, were parked inside the facility.
The theft comes as criminals increasingly target high-value computer hardware amid booming demand for AI and data center equipment.
Cargo thieves stole an estimated $304.6 million worth of goods during the second quarter of 2026, more than double the $135.7 million reported during the same period last year, according to Verisk CargoNet.
Organized groups have increasingly targeted enterprise-grade computers, networking equipment, components and cryptocurrency mining hardware, CargoNet reported. Such shipments can be worth millions of dollars while moving through the supply chain as ordinary freight, leaving expensive technology potentially vulnerable to theft.
The Nvidia thieves, however, walked away without any of it. Fremont police are investigating the theft, and no arrests have been made, according to WIRED.
