Thieves steal Nvidia-branded trailers, find 40,000 lbs of sand instead

Two truck trailers bearing Nvidia branding were stolen by thieves who expected to find valuable electronics, only to discover they were hauling 40,000 pounds of sand.

The trailers belonged to PlusAI, a self-driving truck software company that partners with Nvidia on autonomous vehicle development. According to Wired, an executive at PlusAI received a message from an acquaintance noting they had spotted two of the company's trucks near their workplace, when the vehicles were supposed to be stationed outside a warehouse half a mile away.

The thieves forcibly detached the trailers from their vehicles and drove off with the cargo. When they discovered the trailers contained silica rather than the silicon-based hardware they likely anticipated, they dumped the sand outside the acquaintance's office.

The high-profile Nvidia branding made the trailers attractive targets for theft. Nvidia became the world's first $5 trillion company in late 2024 and has profited substantially from the AI boom, making vehicles bearing its logo appear to contain expensive GPUs and other premium equipment.

PlusAI has recovered all 40,000 pounds of sand, though the thieves remain uncaught. The sand was part of a weight-testing simulation, suggesting PlusAI may need to strengthen security measures when transporting branded cargo.