Allbirds swaps sneakers for servers in a dramatic AI pivot

Allbirds said it will exit footwear to pursue AI computing, rebranding as NewBird AI and funding the shift with a $50 million agreement to buy high-performance GPUs. Shares jumped more than 500% on the announcement, underscoring investor appetite for AI infrastructure plays. The move follows a troubled retail run that included U.S. store closures and the $39 million sale of Allbirds’ brand and footwear assets to American Exchange Group. Management aims to build a GPU-as-a-service and AI-native cloud business amid soaring demand for compute, though skeptics recall 2017’s Long Blockchain episode, when a splashy rebrand ended in SEC delisting and enforcement actions.

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