What happened
An explainer on how thieves combine freight-booking fraud and physical ambush to steal data-center equipment, why reported losses exceed one hundred million dollars since June 2026, and what remains unresolved about prevention.
# The AI boom has led to a surge in thefts of data center equipment, with total losses exceeding 15 billion yen since June alone.
NBC News in the United States has reported that more than $100 million worth of data center equipment has been stolen since June 2026. NBC News interviewed multiple sources to describe the methods used in the thefts.
**Grand theft AI: Highway thieves are stealing millions in data center gear**
**Highway thieves are spoofing GPS to steal millions in data center-bound cargo - Ars Technica** ** **
One of the most expensive thefts involved the theft of a trailer containing computer server equipment worth approximately $13 million (about 2.05 billion yen). According to NBC News, a security vehicle following the trailer was rear-ended by another vehicle and stopped, at which point the trailer was stolen and sped away.
Approximately three weeks later, a trailer carrying server rack components worth about $10 million (approximately 1.57 billion yen) was stolen. This time too, it had an escort vehicle, but it was rear-ended by another vehicle and rendered inoperable. The trailer was being tracked by GPS, but the coordinates were falsified, and its location became unknown.
According to investigators, a series of thefts related to data centers have occurred since June 2026, driven by the AI boom, and these two thefts are considered the most extreme examples.
Over the past two years, the value of equipment used in data center construction has skyrocketed, with expensive equipment such as GPUs, servers, fiber optic cables, copper wires, and Bitcoin mining machines being transported more frequently. Thieves have reportedly seized this opportunity to target this equipment.
The methods are also evolving. Thieves are no longer targeting trailers indiscriminately; they are using cyber technology to hijack accounts of freight brokers and shipping companies through phishing scams to check shipping schedules, or impersonating legitimate shipping companies to handle the transportation of high-value cargo.
Keith Lewis, head of operations at risk assessment firm Verisk CargoNet, pointed out, 'It's like stealing a bar of pure gold. It's far easier to steal this than to rob a bank. They're targeting what's needed to build AI data centers: copper, server racks, and RAM. This crime is now happening on a global scale.'
According to experts, AI-related devices, unlike consumer products, are rarely sold on online marketplaces. Instead, in some cases, buyers are secured even before the technology is stolen, and in many cases, the devices are sold outside the United States, such as in China.
According to research conducted by Verisk CargoNet, while the number of all cargo theft incidents is projected to decrease by 26% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, the value of the stolen goods is projected to increase by more than $100 million, more than double the amount stolen in the same period last year.
However, some experts believe that theft can be prevented with basic measures, and Scott Cornell, president of the American chapter of the Transportation Assets Protection Association, says, 'It can be prevented if transportation companies thoroughly check the backgrounds of their drivers.'
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**Related Posts:**
* [The next target of the thieves is an 'AI data center' rich in copper wire.](/gsc_news/en/20260708-thieves-target-ai-data-center) * [Penalty of hacker sentenced to 10 years was confirmed for the first convicted in 'SIM Hijack' to take over smart SIM](/gsc_news/en/20190205-hacker-stole-sim-swapping) * [Analysis reveals that Meta and Microsoft purchased 150,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, 3 times more than Google, Amazon, and Oracle](/gsc_news/en/20231129-nvidia-sold-h100) * [How do black market dealers sell stolen iPhones in China?](/gsc_news/en/20250522-stolen-iphone-sold-root) * [A man who physically stealed games and related equipment of over 4.5 million yen from Valve's owner Valve](/gsc_news/en/20191009-stole-games-equipment-from-valve) * [Car No. 1, the most stolen in the US, is Accord, the probability that a car will come back safely keeps record lowest](/gsc_news/en/20100930_car_thief_love_honda_accord) * [What is the 'Dark Fleet' - the massive fleet carrying illicit Iranian oil to China?](/gsc_news/en/20241227-dark-fleet) * [Two Chinese people were found guilty of causing Apple to replace more than 5,000 counterfeit iPhones with genuine ones, causing damages of more than 450 million yen.](/gsc_news/en/20240222-scheme-to-defraud-apple-out-of-5000-iphones)
in [Note](/gsc_news/en/C7/), Posted by log1p\_kr
Source coverage
The AI boom has led to a surge in thefts of data center equipment, with total losses exceeding 15 billion yen since June alone.
NBC News in the United States has reported that more than $100 million worth of data center equipment has been stolen since June 2026. NBC News interviewed multiple sources to describe the methods used in the thefts.
Full source content
# The AI boom has led to a surge in thefts of data center equipment, with total losses exceeding 15 billion yen since June alone.
NBC News in the United States has reported that more than $100 million worth of data center equipment has been stolen since June 2026. NBC News interviewed multiple sources to describe the methods used in the thefts.
**Grand theft AI: Highway thieves are stealing millions in data center gear**
**Highway thieves are spoofing GPS to steal millions in data center-bound cargo - Ars Technica** ** **
One of the most expensive thefts involved the theft of a trailer containing computer server equipment worth approximately $13 million (about 2.05 billion yen). According to NBC News, a security vehicle following the trailer was rear-ended by another vehicle and stopped, at which point the trailer was stolen and sped away.
Approximately three weeks later, a trailer carrying server rack components worth about $10 million (approximately 1.57 billion yen) was stolen. This time too, it had an escort vehicle, but it was rear-ended by another vehicle and rendered inoperable. The trailer was being tracked by GPS, but the coordinates were falsified, and its location became unknown.
According to investigators, a series of thefts related to data centers have occurred since June 2026, driven by the AI boom, and these two thefts are considered the most extreme examples.
Over the past two years, the value of equipment used in data center construction has skyrocketed, with expensive equipment such as GPUs, servers, fiber optic cables, copper wires, and Bitcoin mining machines being transported more frequently. Thieves have reportedly seized this opportunity to target this equipment.
The methods are also evolving. Thieves are no longer targeting trailers indiscriminately; they are using cyber technology to hijack accounts of freight brokers and shipping companies through phishing scams to check shipping schedules, or impersonating legitimate shipping companies to handle the transportation of high-value cargo.
Keith Lewis, head of operations at risk assessment firm Verisk CargoNet, pointed out, 'It's like stealing a bar of pure gold. It's far easier to steal this than to rob a bank. They're targeting what's needed to build AI data centers: copper, server racks, and RAM. This crime is now happening on a global scale.'
According to experts, AI-related devices, unlike consumer products, are rarely sold on online marketplaces. Instead, in some cases, buyers are secured even before the technology is stolen, and in many cases, the devices are sold outside the United States, such as in China.
According to research conducted by Verisk CargoNet, while the number of all cargo theft incidents is projected to decrease by 26% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, the value of the stolen goods is projected to increase by more than $100 million, more than double the amount stolen in the same period last year.
However, some experts believe that theft can be prevented with basic measures, and Scott Cornell, president of the American chapter of the Transportation Assets Protection Association, says, 'It can be prevented if transportation companies thoroughly check the backgrounds of their drivers.'
[Set as Preferred Source](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=gigazine.net "Set as Preferred Source") [Copy Title and URL](# "Copy Title and URL")
**Related Posts:**
* [The next target of the thieves is an 'AI data center' rich in copper wire.](/gsc_news/en/20260708-thieves-target-ai-data-center) * [Penalty of hacker sentenced to 10 years was confirmed for the first convicted in 'SIM Hijack' to take over smart SIM](/gsc_news/en/20190205-hacker-stole-sim-swapping) * [Analysis reveals that Meta and Microsoft purchased 150,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, 3 times more than Google, Amazon, and Oracle](/gsc_news/en/20231129-nvidia-sold-h100) * [How do black market dealers sell stolen iPhones in China?](/gsc_news/en/20250522-stolen-iphone-sold-root) * [A man who physically stealed games and related equipment of over 4.5 million yen from Valve's owner Valve](/gsc_news/en/20191009-stole-games-equipment-from-valve) * [Car No. 1, the most stolen in the US, is Accord, the probability that a car will come back safely keeps record lowest](/gsc_news/en/20100930_car_thief_love_honda_accord) * [What is the 'Dark Fleet' - the massive fleet carrying illicit Iranian oil to China?](/gsc_news/en/20241227-dark-fleet) * [Two Chinese people were found guilty of causing Apple to replace more than 5,000 counterfeit iPhones with genuine ones, causing damages of more than 450 million yen.](/gsc_news/en/20240222-scheme-to-defraud-apple-out-of-5000-iphones)
in [Note](/gsc_news/en/C7/), Posted by log1p\_kr
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