Police in Fremont, California, helped recover two stolen trailers branded with PlusAI and Nvidia logos after an acquaintance texted a PlusAI executive to say the vehicles were spotted near Newark, California, about half a mile from where the company believed they were parked. PlusAI and Nvidia are partners on AI software and autonomous truck technology. The thieves broke hand locks on the trailers and opened them, but the cargo was still intact: 40,000 pounds of sand.
PlusAI says the sand is used as simulated load in trailers to support research and development testing. The company's truck cabs were not taken, and no arrests have been made. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. By Thursday afternoon, the sand-filled trailers were back with PlusAI.
The incident comes amid rising cargo theft targeting high-value computer equipment, especially chips and data center gear. WIRED previously reported on two California thefts in which thieves struck security escorts following tech loads and made off with millions of dollars in equipment. Other recent targets have included Tesla batteries and bitcoin mining machines. Verisk CargoNet lists metals and enterprise-grade computer and networking equipment among common cargo-theft targets. This case ended differently: the thieves got sand, not silicon.
Because this account is based on a single WIRED report, there are no differing sources to compare.