More than $100 million worth of data center freight has been stolen across the United States since June, according to industry experts cited by NBC News, as organized criminal groups increasingly target the servers and networking gear that power the AI boom. In two successful heists, robbers struck the escort vehicles protecting trucks carrying more than $10 million in goods each, per the NBC News report.
The story, detailed to NBC News by trucking, supply chain and security veterans, shows how the equipment underpinning artificial intelligence has become one of the most valuable cargoes on American highways — and how thieves are adapting their tactics to go after it.
AI server thefts: what is being stolen
The target is not consumer electronics but the hardware that fills AI data centers: computer server equipment and related tech gear moving between manufacturers, distributors and construction sites. NBC News reports that one June shipment alone, valued at around $13 million, was bound for Fayetteville, Georgia, where a major data center development is under construction.
Industry veterans describe a pattern of organized operations rather than opportunistic theft, with criminals staging dramatic robberies as part of a broader wave of tech equipment theft.
- In early June, a trailer carrying about $13 million in computer server equipment was heading east toward Fayetteville, Georgia, home to one of the largest data center developments in the country, per NBC News.
- Experts say thieves use deceptive techniques, not just brute force, to intercept high-value loads.
- In at least two successful robberies, criminals attacked the escorts guarding trucks hauling over $10 million in equipment.
