According to reporting by the Bay Area News Group, $11.4 million worth of Nvidia cargo disappeared after leaving Oakland, California, on Aug. 29. The six pallets of hardware were headed to Fort Worth. Authorities said the cargo was picked up as planned by a truck identified as belonging to a food transport company. Investigators later lost track of the vehicle in San Bernardino County.
Oakland police said the agency is investigating a grand theft in East Oakland. The victim reported the crime to police on Sept. 13. Olaf Groth, a professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business who has expertise in artificial intelligence, said Nvidia chips are highly sought after. He said the chips can sell for about double their U.S. price abroad.
Groth said the theft is the latest in a series of crimes targeting high-value technology shipments in the Bay Area. Police in Fremont and Union City investigated burglaries involving Nvidia cargo valued at more than $7.5 million last year. According to police, a separate attempted theft in September targeted trucks that suspects believed carried Nvidia technology. The trucks instead contained 40,000 pounds of sand. Authorities have not announced any arrests in the $11.4 million theft, and the investigation is ongoing.