Allbirds, a struggling apparel and footwear brand, announced a bizarre pivot to AI data centers after selling its core business to American Exchange Group, sending its shares shyrocketing 580% in a single day. The company said that it has come to a “definitive agreement” with an institutional investor who will give the company a $50-million infusion through a convertible financing facility expected to close during the second quarter of 2026. This should give it enough funding to become a “GPU-as-a-service” and AI cloud solutions provider, allowing it to join the AI bandwagon and ride the wave of popularity of AI data centers. It also anticipates changing its name from Allbirds to NewBird AI, signaling its intent to do a complete reversal of its business direction.
“NewBird AI expects to use initial capital from the Facility to acquire high-performance GPU assets, which will be deployed to serve customers requiring dedicated access to AI compute capacity,” Allbirds said in its announcement. “NewBird AI’s long-term vision is to become a fully integrated GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) and AI-native cloud solutions provider. Over time, the Company intends to grow its neocloud platform by expanding its compute and service offerings, deepening partnerships with operators and customers, and evaluating strategic M&A opportunities.”
