Allbirds rebrands as AI company, stock jumps 600%

Allbirds announced they’re an AI company now. 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. Caption from article by Mary Cunningham, CBS News. “iDave” is part of a weekly AI series supported by funding from Omidyar Network.