Six pallets of Nvidia computer hardware worth a reported $11.4 million vanished during a cross-country shipment from Oakland to Fort Worth, Texas, and more than two months later, Oakland police have made no arrests and recovered nothing.
A UC Berkeley professor is now warning the missing chips could end up far outside the United States. Olaf Groth of the Haas School of Business told ABC News the case raises national security concerns beyond ordinary theft.
“This is a national security concern as well because we don’t know where these chips are going. They could be going to China, they could be anywhere where we have conflict in the world.”
Police have not publicly identified exactly what hardware was on the pallets, nor confirmed the $11.4 million figure, the cargo’s owner, the shipper, the carrier, or the driver. Whether someone impersonated a legitimate transportation company is also unconfirmed.
The truck arrived for a scheduled pickup on August 29 displaying a food transportation company’s logo, then headed south, making several extended stops before investigators lost track of it in San Bernardino County. According to Ars Technica, the buyers realized in early September their shipment never arrived. Oakland police told FreightWaves the victim did not report the grand theft until September 13, meaning roughly two weeks passed between the apparent disappearance and the report reaching police. Nvidia did not respond to FreightWaves’ requests for comment.
Groth said the financial incentive behind such thefts is substantial: a chip costing about $550,000 in the U.S. can sell for $1 million or more overseas. Police have not said whether the stolen load contained chips of that caliber, but Groth argued the math explains why criminals target this kind of cargo.
“There’s lots and lots of incentives to hijack those chips anywhere where security is weak.”
Part of a Bigger Pattern
This is not an isolated case. Ars Technica reported more than $100 million worth of similar shipments have been stolen nationwide since June, with thieves in other incidents reportedly spoofing GPS coordinates and staging fake collisions involving police escort vehicles.
California has seen repeated incidents involving Nvidia products. In 2025, police in Fremont and Union City investigated burglaries involving more than $7.5 million in Nvidia hardware. In September 2026, thieves stole two trailers from a Fremont warehouse — one bearing Nvidia branding — though the trailers actually held roughly 40,000 pounds of sand. Both were later recovered in nearby Newark. Authorities have not linked either incident to the Oakland theft.
The FBI issued a public advisory on April 30 outlining how organized thieves hijack freight before it ever leaves the warehouse — impersonating brokers and carriers, posting fraudulent listings on load boards, hijacking legitimate carrier accounts, and using double-brokering schemes with falsified bills of lading to redirect cargo. The bureau estimated 2025 cargo theft losses across the U.S. and Canada at nearly $725 million, a 60 percent jump from 2024. Oakland police have not said whether any of these specific tactics were used in this case.
Separately, members of Congress have been pressing Nvidia on unrelated espionage concerns. Republican Reps. Brian Mast of Florida, John Moolenaar of Michigan, and Rick Crawford of Arkansas sent a Nov. 4 letter asking Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to brief their committees behind closed doors on Nov. 18, concerning alleged intelligence activity that has not been publicly proven. That matter is distinct from the Oakland theft.
Key questions remain unanswered: who booked the truck, who signed for the pallets, why two weeks elapsed before police were notified, and whether Nvidia has any way to trace its hardware once it disappears from the supply chain.
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