April 16, 2026 Allbirds said Wednesday it is exiting its core footwear business to focus on artificial intelligence infrastructure, rebranding itself as NewBird AI. The announcement sent its shares up 582 per cent in a single day, lifting the company’s market value from roughly $21 million to a sharply higher level.
The company outlined plans to raise up to $50 million in new funding, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, and to deploy that capital toward acquiring high-performance AI compute hardware. It said the infrastructure would be leased to customers under long-term agreements, targeting demand that “spot markets and hyperscalers are unable to reliably service.”
The pivot follows a rapid unwind of Allbirds’ original business. The company, once valued at more than $4 billion after its 2021 public listing, agreed last month to sell its intellectual property and other assets for $39 million to American Exchange Group, which will continue to operate the Allbirds brand in the accessories and retail space. Earlier this year, Allbirds also closed all of its full-priced U.S. stores.
Financial performance has deteriorated significantly in recent years. Revenue declined nearly 50% between 2022 and 2025, falling from $298 million to $152 million, as competition intensified, customer acquisition costs increased, and demand for its sustainability-focused footwear slowed.
The shift positions the company in a capital-intensive but fast-growing segment of the technology market. AI infrastructure, including specialised hardware used to train and run machine learning models, has become a focal point for investment, driven by sustained demand following the release of large-scale AI systems. Nvidia, which supplies graphics processing units critical to AI workloads, has seen its market value rise to nearly $5 trillion, underscoring the scale of the opportunity.
Allbirds’ move also reflects a pattern in public markets, where struggling companies pivot toward high-growth sectors to regain investor attention. Similar shifts were seen during earlier technology cycles, including the surge of blockchain-related rebrands during the cryptocurrency boom.
Founded in 2015 by Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger, Allbirds built its brand around environmentally conscious footwear made from natural materials such as merino wool. Its early success, particularly among technology-sector consumers, drove rapid expansion and a high-profile market debut. The transition to AI infrastructure marks a departure from that original strategy and places the company in a sector defined by different operational demands and competitive dynamics.
