Thieves Steal PlusAI Trailers Carrying 40,000 Pounds of Sand, Not Nvidia Chips

At least one stolen PlusAI trailer displayed Nvidia branding, but its cargo was sand—not chips. The autonomous-trucking developer confirmed that two trailers taken from its Fremont, California, warehouse last week held 40,000 pounds of sand, according to Fortune’s October 1 report. Police recovered them later the same day.

A test load, not a hardware delivery

The sand had a practical purpose: it served as ballast, or added weight, to reproduce the loads a truck would carry with real freight. PlusAI uses those loaded trailers for research and development testing. Each stolen trailer held about 20,000 pounds.

The distinction between a trailer and the vehicle pulling it matters here. PlusAI’s tractor units—the powered vehicles containing its driving systems and technology—were inside the warehouse and were not stolen.

A photograph helped bring the trailers back

The theft happened overnight, and workers discovered the trailers missing the following morning. A friend of PlusAI’s vice president of legal then spotted them parked outside an office in Newark, California, and sent a photograph. That sighting helped locate the missing trailers.

Authorities told PlusAI that the thieves had opened the backs of the trailers, found nothing valuable and abandoned them, Fortune reported. Police returned both trailers that afternoon with all the sand still inside, according to Ynet’s September 27 coverage.

The logo does not establish the motive

Ynet reported that investigators believed the thieves brought their own tractor units, broke the locks securing the trailers, attached them and drove away.

PlusAI uses Nvidia chips for its self-driving technology. Whether the thieves expected to find Nvidia equipment remains unknown. No arrests had been reported as of September 27, and police were continuing to investigate.