If you assume any trailer with the Nvidia logo plastered on the side is loaded with electronics, you would be sorely mistaken. And if you're anything like the thieves who stole two trucks from self-driving truck software company PlusAI, you will be left with 40,000 lbs of sand instead.
As reported by Wired, an executive at PlusAI reportedly received a message from an acquaintance stating, “I have been proud of you for your adventure and success at PlusAI. Just saw two of your trucks near my work place! :)”
The problem here is that those two trucks were supposed to be outside a warehouse half a mile away.
It turns out that PlusAI has partnered with Nvidia (hence the Nvidia-emblazoned truck) to work on its autonomous vehicles, and these two trucks were part of a simulation. They were each filled with 20,000 lbs of sand. The trailers were forcibly detached from their vehicles, and thieves drove off with the cargo, only to dump it outside the acquaintance's office when they discovered the silica, instead of silicon, stashed inside.
If you were going to try and steal a truck trailer full of pricey equipment, it makes sense why anything with an Nvidia logo would be a potential target. The big green juggernaut became the world's first $5 trillion company late last year and has cashed in majorly on the AI boom.
Nvidia is continuing to make money hand over fist thanks to AI, and therefore one might expect that Nvidia-labelled trucks are filled with powerful GPUs or other such expensive equipment.
Still, this theft is probably a good sign to PlusAI that it needs to be very careful when it comes to monitoring stock, especially when it's got such a high-value company name slapped on the side of its trailers. If the sand simulation was a test to see if thieves would steal from its warehouse, I'd say its results have been well and truly achieved. I'd say the real reason was likely a bit more boring, though. Given it's a simulated load, that implies it was for weight-testing purposes.
All 40,000 lbs of sand have now been recovered by PlusAI, though the thieves have not yet been caught.
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