Motorway crashes: more than $100 million in data centre equipment stolen from the United States since June

Servers, memory chips, cables: En route loadings to IA data centres have become a prime target for organized criminal networks, according to an NBC News survey.

Computer equipment in transit to data centers now attracts cargo thieves. According to a survey by NBC News published on 26 October, more than $100 million of goods destined for these centres have been stolen on U.S. roads since June. The investigation opens with an emblematic case: in early June, a trailer loaded with approximately $13 million of servers was moving to Fayetteville, Georgia, where one of the largest data center complexes in the country is being built.

Squashed escorts, hijacked computer systems

Transport, supply chain and security veterans describe spectacular robberies, including two successful robbers who attacked escort vehicles that protected trucks carrying $10 million in goods. Specialists in the sector also report on more discreet methods: GPS interference, hacking accounts of freight brokers to divert real cargo to complicit drivers, or even false driving licences generated by IA.

Servers, memory chips, fibre optic or copper cables: the highly concentrated value of these loads and the race to build computing capabilities make them profitable targets, while much of the stolen goods would then leave the US territory through established channels.