Nvidia-branded trailers stolen in California, thieves discover 20 tons of sand instead AI hardware

Nvidia-branded trailers were stolen from an autonomous trucking company’s facility in Fremont, California, after thieves apparently mistook the vehicles for a haul carrying valuable technology. Instead, they ended up with about 40,000 pounds of sand used by self-driving truck developer PlusAI to simulate real freight during vehicle testing, according to The San Francisco Standard.

Two PlusAI trailers were taken from the docks of the company’s Fremont warehouse late Wednesday. One of the trailers carried prominent Nvidia and PlusAI branding, reflecting the companies’ work together on autonomous trucking and AI technology.

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Thieves apparently expected valuable technology

PlusAI uses sand inside its trailers to replicate the weight and conditions of real  freight while testing its autonomous trucking systems. Each trailer contained roughly 20,000 pounds of sand.

According to PlusAI Vice President of Marketing Lauren Kwan, the company believes the prominent branding may have made the trailers appear more valuable than they were.

“The very apparent branding probably made them think there was very valuable equipment back there,” Kwan said, according to The San Francisco Standard.

Workers discovered the trailers missing on Thursday morning and reported the theft to the Fremont Police Department shortly after 9:30 a.m. The locks securing the trailers appeared to have been forced off, while the PlusAI tractor cabs parked elsewhere on the property were left untouched.

Security footage reportedly showed two unidentified tractors moving around the warehouse.

“Those were not our tractors. Those were from the thieves,” Kwan said.

An unexpected message helped recover the trailers

The stolen trailers were recovered only hours after the company reported them missing, following an unusual coincidence.

PlusAI’s vice president of legal received a message from a friend who had spotted two company-branded trailers outside an office in nearby Newark. The friend apparently did not know the trailers had been stolen and sent a photograph along with a congratulatory message.

PlusAI employees went to the location, confirmed that the trailers were theirs and contacted police. Newark police subsequently recovered both trailers and returned them to the company.

Police told the company that the thieves appeared to have opened the back of the trailers, discovered there was nothing valuable inside and abandoned them. The sand remained inside the trailers.

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Nvidia branding draws attention amid AI cargo theft

The incident comes as expensive AI hardware and data-centre equipment have increasingly become targets for cargo theft in the US. Nvidia’s chips are among the most sought-after components in the booming AI infrastructure market, making Nvidia-branded equipment potentially attractive to criminals.

PlusAI uses Nvidia technology as part of its autonomous-driving systems, but the stolen trailers were not carrying Nvidia chips or other AI hardware.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment reported by other outlets.

The Fremont Police Department said the case remains under investigation, and no arrests had been reported at the time of the reports.