$11.4 million of Nvidia hardware stolen: six pallets vanished between Oakland and Texas
In short: A truck posing as a food company took the shipment in California. Authorities are investigating and there are no arrests.
Six pallets of Nvidia hardware worth $11.4 million disappeared during a shipment between Oakland, California, and Texas, according to ABC7 News as reported by Tom's Hardware. The cargo left Oakland on August 29 and was picked up by a truck posing as a food transport company.
What happened
Investigators lost track of the vehicle in San Bernardino County. The Oakland Police Department received the report and the investigation remains open, with no arrests announced so far.
Why these machines get stolen
According to Olaf Groth, a professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, these chips sell abroad for about double their US price: one that costs around $550,000 can fetch $1 million or more. That makes them a very profitable target, and experts also warn about advanced AI hardware reaching the black market.
A similar case in Brazil
In September, two pallets of GeForce RTX 5090 cards, worth about $470,000, vanished at Guarulhos airport in São Paulo. Brazilian police suspect an inside job, with three airport employees under scrutiny. One of the stolen cards, a Zotac RTX 5090, turned up for sale on a local marketplace for more than $6,000, with its serial number visible, and the listing was taken down.
What it means for you
With memory and graphics cards getting pricier, hardware is loot. If you buy a graphics card or build a PC, do it at trusted stores and keep the invoice and serial number. At MBTECNIC we build, check and upgrade PCs and laptops, and we advise you to buy well.
