Two trailers were stolen last week from PlusAI's Fremont, California warehouse, including one branded with Nvidia logos, the autonomous trucking company confirmed. Each trailer contained about 20,000 pounds of sand, used for simulating freight loads during testing. The theft was discovered the following morning, and police recovered the trailers later that day after a tip from an acquaintance of PlusAI’s vice president of legal, according to fortune.com.
The thieves broke open the back of the trailers but found no valuable cargo and abandoned them. PlusAI explained that the sand mimics real freight conditions to support research and development of its self-driving technology, which relies on Nvidia chips. Lauren Kwan, PlusAI’s vice president of marketing, said the company had never experienced a tractor or trailer theft since its founding in 2016. Nvidia declined to comment on the incident, fortune.com reported.
Cargo theft targeting AI companies has been increasing recently, with investigators in Illinois recovering stolen AI-related equipment earlier this year. Although this incident involved sand rather than high-value AI hardware, the Nvidia branding on the trailer may have attracted the thieves. PlusAI’s use of heavy sand loads for testing highlights the unique challenges autonomous trucking companies face in securing their assets amid rising theft risks, according to fortune.com.
The stolen trailers were found parked outside a Newark office the same day they were reported missing, thanks to a photo sent to police by a contact of PlusAI’s legal team. The company continues to use sand loads in its testing operations as it advances autonomous freight technology, with no further thefts reported since this incident, fortune.com noted.