After selling its shoe business, Allbirds is now turning to artificial intelligence
Following the $39 million sale of its footwear brand and assets last month, Allbirds is making a drastic pivot into the artificial intelligence sector. As the “Allbirds” name was included in the divestiture, the company has rebranded as NewBird AI. On Wednesday, the firm officially announced via its investor relations site its new identity as a “fully integrated GPU-as-a-Service and AI-native cloud solutions provider.”
The newly renamed AI company also announced a $50 million investment from an undisclosed institutional investor through a convertible financing facility.
There is an objective irony in Allbirds transforming into an AI firm. While corporate pivots are common, the sheer scale of this shift—from crafting the “it-shoes” of Silicon Valley to providing the GPUs that power it—is nearly absurd. Yet, beneath the surface, the move is a pragmatic play: by retaining its Nasdaq shell (trading as “BIRD”), the company can bypass the hurdles of a new IPO and dive headfirst into the lucrative AI market.
This move echoes the 2017 saga of the Long Island Iced Tea company, which pivoted to blockchain and saw its stock price skyrocket by 275% following the rebrand. However, that transition proved short-lived; the Nasdaq delisted the company the following year once the initial “bitcoin fever” subsided and the strategy failed to materialize.
NewBird AI is undoubtedly aiming for a more sustainable trajectory than its blockchain predecessors. The proposed financing and asset sale remain contingent on stockholder approval, with a meeting scheduled for May 18. Should the deal be ratified, shareholders can expect a dividend in the third quarter, while the American Exchange Group—the brand’s new owner—will take over the production and sale of Allbirds footwear.
NewBird AI intends to leverage its new capital to acquire GPU hardware, which it will then lease to clients in need of high-performance AI compute capacity. Looking ahead, the company aims to scale its service portfolio through strategic partnerships and potential mergers and acquisitions, should the right opportunities materialize.
From sneakers to AI infrastructure
Allbirds built its reputation around minimalist shoes and sustainable materials. However, the footwear business struggled financially, and the company eventually agreed to sell its shoe brand and related assets to American Exchange Group for about $39 million. (Breakingviews)
Instead of simply shutting down, the public company decided to use its remaining corporate structure for a completely different business.
Its new direction is focused on providing computing resources for companies developing and running artificial intelligence systems.
What does the new AI business do?
The company’s plan is not to create another chatbot or consumer AI application.
Instead, it aims to become an AI infrastructure provider. The business plans to acquire high-performance computing hardware, including GPUs, and provide computing capacity to customers that need powerful resources for AI workloads. (The Guardian)
This type of service can be important for businesses that need significant computing power but do not want to purchase and maintain expensive AI servers themselves.
Why is Allbirds moving into AI?
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence has created huge demand for computing power. Training and operating modern AI models can require large numbers of powerful GPUs and specialized infrastructure.
Allbirds believes this growing demand could create a new business opportunity. The company announced financing that was initially described as a $50 million investment facility and later expanded its financing agreement to $100 million. (TechCrunch)
The goal is to use capital to build an AI infrastructure business rather than continue operating an unprofitable footwear operation.
Allbirds becomes smartbird
The transformation did not stop at changing the business model.
In June 2026, the company officially changed its name to Smartbird and appointed Nadia Carlsten, a former Amazon Web Services executive, as president and CEO. (Forbes)
Carlsten has experience in AI, computing and cloud infrastructure. Her appointment signals that Smartbird is attempting to build a serious technology company rather than simply attach an AI label to its existing business.
A risky but interesting strategy
The move from footwear to AI infrastructure is certainly unusual.
Allbirds was once valued at more than $4 billion, but its footwear business later struggled and was sold for a fraction of that peak valuation. Reuters described the AI transition as a dramatic pivot with significant uncertainty surrounding its chances of success. (Breakingviews)
The company now faces a completely different competitive environment. It will have to build technical expertise, acquire expensive hardware, attract customers and compete with established cloud and AI infrastructure providers.
What happens next ?
Smartbird says it is working toward its first AI infrastructure deployments and speaking with potential customers. The company plans to provide managed AI infrastructure that can help businesses access computing power without making large upfront investments in their own equipment. (Investing.com)
Whether this strategy becomes a successful technology business remains uncertain. But the transformation is already one of the more surprising corporate stories of 2026.
Final thoughts
Allbirds’ journey from sustainable sneakers to AI infrastructure shows how quickly companies can change direction when markets shift.
The former footwear company is now betting on the growing demand for artificial intelligence computing. With a new name, new leadership and a completely different business model, Smartbird is attempting to build a new future around AI infrastructure. The big question is no longer whether Allbirds can sell more shoes. It is whether its new AI strategy can turn an unsuccessful footwear business into a successful technology company
