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Allbirds is trading in sneakers for servers, selling its footwear brand as it races to reinvent itself as an AI company in a move that sent its stock soaring 600%.
The eco-friendly shoe company announced Wednesday that it is transitioning into an AI business, which it plans to name “NewBird AI.” Allbirds said it will focus on “AI compute infrastructure,” with a long-term goal of offering a fully integrated cloud computing model. The company said it has reached a $50 million agreement with an institutional investor to make the change.
Allbirds, known for its minimalist wool sneakers, will sell its footwear assets to American Exchange Group, which owns more than 30 brands across fashion, jewelry, footwear and personal care. Investors cheered the move, with its outsized gains reminiscent of the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, when companies’ stocks soared after they announced they were switching to an online model.
GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders said Allbirds is using the shell of the former business to generate capital and transform itself into a new AI-focused venture.
“That is not a bad thing as it could provide a new lease of life for investors and some employees,” he told CBS News in an email. “There is demand for AI compute capacity, but quite what expertise the so-called NewBird AI has in the space and how it intends to capture market share remain unclear.”
The company’s stock jumped $14.86, or 597%, to $17.35 in early afternoon trading.
The San Francisco-based company is entering the AI race at a time when the technology is delivering huge financial returns for investors. Many think the optimism is overstated, citing concerns that the market could be in an AI bubble.
Allbirds framed its pivot as a way to help fill a gap in the AI market. “The rise of AI development and adoption has created unprecedented structural demand for specialized, high-performance compute that the market is struggling to meet,” the company said in its statement.
