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On April 7, All birds She sent out a press release celebrating her new “Canvas Cruiser” collection and the partnership with color company Pantone. One week later, on April 15, Allbirds sent out a press release announcing that the brand would “pivot its business to AI computing infrastructure.” Artificial intelligence comes to you quickly.
In fairness, it’s been an eventful month for Allbirds. The startup’s fall from grace has been something that has been going on for a long time Well documentedBut that’s the short version. While its comfortable, eye-catching shoes propelled it to a $4 billion valuation when it went public in 2021, its sales never matched the hype. After years of financial losses, it finally sold the remainder of its intellectual property to American Exchange Group, a “brand management” company that also owns companies such as Aerosoles and Ed Hardy. Price: $39 million. That was March 30th.
And now? American Exchange Group is supposed to revitalize Allbirds’ apparel business, starting with those canvas Corvettes. But Allbirds itself will focus its efforts on converting a $50 million cash infusion (or “convertible financing facility”) into “high-performance GPU assets,” and eventually building a “fully integrated GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) and cloud-native AI solutions provider.” As befits a reinvention of this magnitude, Allbirds will also get a new name, NewBird AI.
Allbirds isn’t the only company focused on computing. Boom Supersonic is trying to build the world’s fastest passenger plane but will gladly do so He sells Its superpower gas turbines are for AI companies that need data center power. most Bitcoin mining companies have boarded the AI train months ago. Even Nvidia GPUs were originally a staple of gaming PCs. Allbirds appears to be the first to start with a simple sneaker made from responsibly sourced merino wool.
It is true that Thirst for calculationThe processing power of artificial intelligence is almost insatiable. Someone has to slaughter her. It may also be a shoe company. “Enterprises, AI developers, and research institutions are unable to secure the computing resources they need to build, train, and operate AI at scale,” Allbirds’ press release said. “NewBird AI is being built to help bridge this gap.”
It’s not clear what exactly NewBird AI brings to the table other than cash to buy a bunch of GPUs. Maybe that’s all it takes these days. This is all pending shareholder approval, but for the value of the matter, investors like the move; Allbirds stock rose 400 percent on the news.
AllBirds did not respond to a request for comment.
If nothing else, the pivot perfectly encapsulates this extended moment of AI madness. Startups are used to making things; Now they buy processors. Warby Parker, you’re aware.