Allbirds Shares Skyrocket 582% Following Unexpected Shift from Footwear to AI
In a surprising business transformation, the eco-friendly sneaker brand rebrands itself as ‘NewBird AI’
Shares of Allbirds soared 582% on Wednesday after the once struggling footwear company announced a bold pivot to artificial intelligence computing infrastructure. Once valued at over $4 billion during its eco-conscious sneaker peak, the company unveiled plans to rebrand as “NewBird AI”. Their new focus will be on providing GPU-as-a-service for tech startups, a decision made just days before it was set to shut down permanently.
The dramatic shift occurred after Allbirds sold its footwear brand and intellectual property to American Exchange Group for $39 million in March. The company then secured a $50 million convertible financing facility to pursue its new AI compute infrastructure venture. Stocks closed at $14.50, a significant rise from being under $3 just days earlier. However, shares fell nearly 30% on Thursday as the initial excitement began to wane.
This pivot is reminiscent of the 2017 rebranding of Long Island Iced Tea to “Long Blockchain”, which also experienced a massive stock surge before eventually being delisted.
In a significant departure from its founding principles, Allbirds plans to request shareholders to remove references to environmental conservation from its corporate charter. This move acknowledges the notorious energy-intensity of AI computing. It also illustrates Silicon Valley’s readiness to reward any company that incorporates “artificial intelligence” into its business model.
Source: Bloomberg