Allbirds rebrands as Smartbird, names AWS veteran CEO - stock jumps 34%

The shoemaker-turned-AI infrastructure firm Allbirds has completed another leg of its pivot, announcing a name change to Smartbird and appointing Nadia Carlsten as its new chief executive. The move sent shares up 34% on Wednesday.

Carlsten, who previously ran Amazon Web Services' quantum computing unit and served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, takes over from Joe Vernachio. Most recently, she was CEO of DCAI, an AI infrastructure company that operates the Gefion supercomputer and partners with Nvidia.

Allbirds stunned investors in April when it revealed plans to exit footwear and focus on AI compute hardware. The company rebranded to NewBird AI at the time, and its market cap surged sevenfold. That pivot followed the $39 million sale of its shoe assets to American Exchange Group in March and the closure of its full-priced U.S. stores in February.

Allbirds joins a wave of companies chasing the AI boom sparked by ChatGPT's late-2022 debut. The day after Allbirds' initial rebrand, social media platform Myseum also shifted to AI. The trend echoes earlier Wall Street frenzies around crypto and blockchain.

Founded in 2015 by former soccer player Tim Brown and renewable resources expert Joey Zwillinger, Allbirds became a household name with its sustainable wool sneakers. It went public in 2021, surging 90% on its first day, but shares have since fallen nearly 99% from a November 2021 high of $577.80 as competition intensified and trends slowed.

Source: CNBC