$11.4M Nvidia Shipment Vanishes After Truck Pickup in California

Authorities in California are investigating the disappearance of a shipment of Nvidia hardware valued at $11.4 million. According to the information available, the six-pallet load left Oakland on August 29, bound for Texas, and was collected by a truck that appeared to belong to a food-transport company.

Investigators lost the vehicle's trail in the San Bernardino County area. A theft report was filed with Oakland Police on September 13. No arrests have been announced so far, and officials say the case remains under investigation.

Chips fetch double abroad

According to Prof. Olaf Groth of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, chips of this kind sell for roughly twice their US price outside the United States. In his example, a chip that costs about $550,000 in the US goes for $1 million or more abroad. With demand for hardware high and prices climbing, GPU theft has become a highly profitable target for criminals.

The incident has also heightened concern among experts about the security of high-value technology shipments. Some also warn that advanced computing hardware slipping into black-market channels could pose a national-security risk.

The RTX 5090 case in Brazil

A similar incident took place in Brazil in September. Two pallets carrying Nvidia's top-end GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards went missing at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo. The products, worth about $470,000 (2.5 million reais), had been imported from the US; reportedly, they reached the airport on September 20 and cleared customs on September 24. The pallets disappeared the day after they were approved for release.

The investigation pointed to possible inside help, and Brazilian police identified three airport employees as suspects. Reportedly, two outsourced forklift operators removed the pallets from the warehouse, and the act is said to have been captured on security cameras. A third employee, responsible for goods inspection and release approval, is alleged to have helped get around the airport's electronic controls.

A serial number gave the listing away

The Brazilian case produced a notable break: one of the stolen Zotac RTX 5090 cards was listed for sale on the Brazilian online marketplace OLX at a price above $6,000. Clear photos in the listing showed the card's serial number, which made it possible to link the product to the missing shipment. The listing was later removed, but the whereabouts of the other cards remain unknown.

Both incidents show that top-tier GPUs have become attractive goods for thieves. How the California investigation will end is not yet known, and the fate of the stolen hardware remains unclear.