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Thieves Are Now Targeting AI Data Center Construction Sites for Copper and Expensive Equipment (www.vice.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Investigators recovered two stolen trailers carrying $1.3 million in data center supplies, including copper wire and infrastructure equipment.

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[–] 35 points 3 months ago (11 children)

Don't tell them there's copper and other precious metals they can steal in AI datacenters. Also, most definitely DO NOT tell them most AI datacenters are completely unstaffed and easily accessible.

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  • [–] 19 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    Copper by weight is cheap as hell. RAM & NVME drives are a WAY better ROI. It wouldn’t even be worth carrying the whole server.

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  • [–] 17 points 3 months ago

    Copper is way easier to fence and way easier to steal. The RAM and NVME aren't getting installed until the building has functional security. The mile of copper wire to run power is locked in a trailer and might not even have a permanent fence around it yet.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    How many times do we have to explain that datacenters don't run on hardware that is compatible with consumer shit?

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago*

    AI startups are all so desperate for memory and GPUs that I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them were willing to buy shit that, uh, fell off the back of a truck.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Bro, watch/read Catch Me if You Can. Frank Abagnale is one of my heroes, like Joseph Smith is, and for the sane reason Christ is our lord. The audacity of a man in reflective vest, hardhat, with ladder and/or clipboard to walk confidently into a building to waltz up to the seventeenth floor to steal state secrets? Well, I've only done that four times, so it's not like I'm an expert or anything.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    My dad tells a story about an indicent in the 1980's, I think, where a couple of gentlemen went to Governer's Island and stole an 8ft diameter bronze screw. (Ship propeller)

    I don't think they had vests, but they most likely just drove up with a flatbed like they had every right to be there. Probably even asked for help loading it.

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