The big picture: Data center equipment has become a popular target for cargo thieves as the AI boom has spurred the construction of these facilities. As shipments of GPUs and other equipment continue to go missing, new reports suggest that thieves are becoming more ambitious and sophisticated as the heists become more lucrative.
According to the Bay Area News Group, police suspect sophisticated thieves stole $11.4 million worth of Nvidia devices that were supposed to be shipped from Oakland to Fort Worth, Texas. No arrests have been announced so far.
A vehicle with six pallets was picked up in Oakland as scheduled on August 29, but no one noticed the delivery was missing until early September. Police attempted to track the vehicle but lost track of the vehicle in San Bernardino County after it made several stops lasting several hours.
Last year’s thefts included several thefts involving Nvidia and other companies involved in building the AI data center. In 2025, the investigations caused more than $7.5 million in losses for Nvidia in Fremont and Union City alone.
Meanwhile, authorities seized $1.3 million worth of devices in Chicago in June 2026. GPS trackers helped police find the stolen goods, but some thieves have started using GPS manipulation and other methods to crack down on them.
In some cases, thieves crash into private escort vehicles tracking shipments. According to the police, such incidents are becoming more and more common.
In other cases, thieves may use common hacking and phishing methods to impersonate legitimate shipping companies. In response, shippers are investing more in surveillance services and even deploying flock cameras to look for suspicious people and license plates.
It seems that any truck bearing the Nvidia logo could be targeted, regardless of whether it is transporting anything valuable. In September, thieves stole Nvidia-branded trailers hoping to find GPUs or other equipment, but instead discovered 20,000 pounds of sand. It turned out that the other company whose logo was emblazoned on the truck, PlusAI, was using the sand to simulate loads for research and development.
Details from the $11.4 million heist suggest shippers try to conceal their cargo in response to thefts, but the tactic failed in this case. The thieves continued to steal the pallets even as they were picked up by a vehicle bearing the logo of a food company.
