Thieves hijacked PlusAI's Nvidia-branded trailers and got 20 tons of sand

On a Thursday morning in September 2026, a PlusAI executive received a congratulatory text: “Just saw two of your trucks near my work place!” The trouble was the trucks were not supposed to be near that office in Newark, California — as far as the company knew, the trailers were docked outside its Fremont warehouse half a mile away. Police were soon on the scene to recover two trailers emblazoned with logos for PlusAI and Nvidia, partners on AI software and autonomous truck technology.

Why the thieves gave up became clear when PlusAI employees explained the hint they gave police: each trailer was full of about 20,000 pounds of sand. “PlusAI uses simulated loads in its trailers to assist with research and development testing,” spokesperson Lauren Kwan said — the trailers were recovered with 40,000 pounds of sand intact.

The tech-enabled cabs, where a driver would normally sit, had been parked inside the warehouse and never taken. The recovery came amid a wave of US cargo theft targeting high-value chips and data-center equipment — WIRED had revealed thieves striking security escorts’ vehicles in August, and metals and enterprise computer gear top Verisk CargoNet’s most-targeted cargo list — making the ballast an accidental anti-theft device.

Weight-faithful simulated loads make autonomous-testing trailers behave like real freight runs instead of empty shells.

The ballast doubles as a decoy: a trailer that looks like Nvidia-branded hardware carries nothing a fence would want.

Keeping the tech-enabled cabs inside the warehouse meant the thieves stole only the worthless half of the rig.

It lands in a crime wave — metals and enterprise computer gear are Verisk CargoNet's most-targeted cargo — where most victims lose millions.

Simulate the real thing down to its weight: a test rig that faithfully mimics cargo also, accidentally, denies thieves a payload.

Both trailers were back with PlusAI by Thursday afternoon, per the Fremont Police Department, with the sand intact; the case remained under investigation with no arrests as of the WIRED report.