I have an Allbirds collection that I love, and its AI pivot feels worse than poorly-fitting shoes | Tech Radar

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I have an Allbirds collection that I love, and its AI pivot feels worse than poorly-fitting shoes

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It'll sell AI GPU space, but why did Allbirds choose this path, and what does it really mean?

I discovered Allbirds on Tik Tok. The social media platform might be a source of entertainment and information for some, but it's increasingly where I find tantalizing brands for products I end up loving. Shoe and apparel maker Allbirds was one of them. Now it's New Bird AI, an AI infrastructure company, in a pivot that makes about as much sense as wrapping slices of bologna around your feet and calling them sandals.

As a loyal customer who once took his wife to the sole New York City Allbirds store and convinced her to buy a pair of $100 slip-ons, I watched with dismay as the once high-flying viral shoe company narrowly avoided bankruptcy.

Up until a week ago, I was still receiving two or three promotional Allbirds texts per month, and I would've happily bought another one of their lightweight, extremely comfortable, and, yes, washable shoes.

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I don't know exactly where things went wrong with Allbirds, but now I, and most of the rest of the world, know where it's going.

Early on Wednesday, the company put out a press release which reiterated that the Allbirds assets had been sold to American Exchange Group, which, according to the release, "intends to continue to build on Allbirds’ legacy and deliver compelling products to Allbirds’ customers." That sounds like it means the All Birds brand of shoes will continue. But the rest of the release is a business jargon-filled word salad.

Even though they sold the assets, vestiges of the Allbirds company remain, which trades publicly on the NASDAQ. That company apparently secured $50m in financing "to pivot its business to AI compute infrastructure."

And the long-term vision is selling AI GPU space or cycles as a service, which it calls "GPU aa S". Oh, and the new name is New Bird AI.

Look, I have no problem with this business concept. GPU access demand for AI model building and prompt processing is at an all-time high. Smaller companies may want something like an AWS for AI to rent out cycles for their small-to-medium-sized businesses. Such a service lets the smaller players appear to be the bigger ones to their customers. If they want an AI chatbot on their site, perhaps they rent out cycles from New Bird AI.

What I don't get is what this has to do with shoes. All Birds sells stylish, well-made shoes and sneakers. It was an excellent online retailer, at least from this customer's point of view. Look, I was so excited when I got my first pair, I did a Tik Tok unboxing.

You might argue that everything in life is now connected to AI. There's no reason Allbirds... I mean, New Bird AI... can't be connected, too. I guess. What I really think, though, is that this is a craven attention play. All Birds business is pretty much dead (maybe), but the brand has a profile. New Bird AI's financers clearly think there's huge, if temporary value in the name.

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Weirdly, so do investors. News of the pivot sent All Birds stock skyrocketing. In the morning, it was under two dollars. By the afternoon, it was trading at over $20 a share. I don't know what that says about the average investor's overall intelligence. Do they think the bizarre intersection of a former shoe brand and AI is a winning combination?

As I said, there's some value in the idea, but no reason to associate it with the brand in any way. And what of Allbirds? I visited the site and launched the live chat, where I found a sales assistant named Sophie (who may have been AI).

My old collection of Allbirds (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

I wrote, "What’s this I hear about you pivoting to AI?"

Sophie: "Hi there! This is Sophie from Allbirds here, thanks for reaching out! 😊 Could you share a bit more about what you’ve heard regarding us 'pivoting to AI'? I’m here to help with any Allbirds-related questions you have."

Me: "I’m told you are being renamed to New Bird AI and will be selling AI services. Will you also still sell shoes?"

Sophie: "I’m here to help with Allbirds shoes, orders, or services. Is there something specific I can assist you with today?"

Since I knew Sophie wouldn't answer me about New Bird AI, I pivoted to finding out if they still planned on shipping shoes next week.

Sophie: "Yes — Allbirds is still selling and shipping shoes, so you should be able to place an order next week."

In fact, Sophie was cool with me waiting even longer, like a month.

Sophie: "Yes — that should be fine. Allbirds is still selling and shipping shoes, so you can wait until next month if you’d like."

This makes some sense, because the former Allbirds did sell its assets to American Exchange Group, which owns fashion brands like Aerosoles, Alexis Bendel, and Ed Hardy. So perhaps my once-favorite shoe brand (kind of into Hey Dude now) may live on under its ample umbrella of fashion and products.

As for New Bird AI, it seems like the new company leveraged the old All Birds brand name for just long enough to make a boatload of seed capital from the stock exchange. New Bird AI is, in the end, a sole-less enterprise that ultimately bears no relationship to the Allbirds legacy.

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A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.

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