Thieves on the Hunt for GPUs Stole Nvidia Trucks, but All They Got Was 20 Tons of Sand
It's no secret that GPUs are worth their weight in gold right now, with the ongoing RAM crisis shooting prices through the stratosphere. That's probably what some thieves were thinking too, as they stole two Nvidia-branded trailers thinking they were getting a load of expensive GPUs. But they just ended up with sand.
The escalating demand for GPUs has led to a surge in their prices, prompting some thieves to attempt thefts of Nvidia-branded trucks. However, their plans were thwarted when they discovered that the trailers they stole were loaded with 20,000 pounds of sand each. The trucks, branded with Nvidia and PlusAI logos, were stolen in Newark, California last week.
PlusAI, a tech company working on autonomous trucks, had filled the trailers with sand to simulate loads. The theft was discovered when an executive received a text message from a friend who had observed the trailers parked outside their Newark office. PlusAI swiftly recovered the trailers and the sand, as the thieves abandoned them.
The expensive AI hardware remained inside the warehouse, untouched. Reports indicate that such thefts have become more prevalent due to the skyrocketing prices of AI hardware, which is in high demand to fuel data center growth. Organized groups have been targeting enterprise-grade computer and networking equipment, components, and cryptocurrency mining hardware, causing significant financial losses despite their visible value being much lower during transportation and security checks.
The escalating thefts are not helping alleviate the high cost of hardware, with GPU prices continuing to soar this year and Nvidia not expected to release new graphics cards anytime soon.
Written by urgent.news from IGN's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
