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[–]dat_tae 3685 points3686 points  (37 children)

The Company will initially seek to acquire high-performance, low-latency AI compute hardware...

Famously easy and cheap to get right now.

[–]Fmarulezkd 11.4k points11.4k points  (124 children)

Designing a shoe is pretty much the same as designing a data center, so that's a solid pivot.

[–]pmd006 5704 points5705 points  (185 children)

Back in my day if you wanted your stock to explode overnight you just slipped the word "blockchain" into your latest earnings report.

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[–]Gnaightster 15.7k points15.7k points  (357 children)

We live in the dumbest timeline

[–]nordic-nomad 3535 points3536 points  (267 children)

The worst part is that everyone involved knows how stupid it is and no one can do anything about it for some reason.

[–]Hongxiquan 115 points116 points  (9 children)

If you view this as all being part of a big scam and no one wants to crash the scam then it sort of makes sense

[–]highercyber 43 points44 points  (4 children)

I want to crash the scam!

[–]The-Cynicist 28 points29 points  (1 child)

The trick is, you have to have enough money to crash the scam. Hence the part where all of us feel helpless in controlling what is happening. We don’t, but we can scare the shit out of the people who do control it.

[–]Skensis 27 points28 points  (4 children)

Not really, it's a dying brand which they sold off to another company.

All birds just became a financial shell to invest in something else. These sort of things have been happening forever.

Having a bunch of cash and a stock ticker is actually worth something.

[–]Fiery_Flamingo 43 points44 points  (32 children)

I work at a fintech company developing software. I don’t really care about fintech. It’s software development to me.

If my product manager sends me a new project to develop AI powered shoe laces, I won’t care as long as I’m getting paid. My only objection would be “how the hell am I gonna build AI with PHP”.

[–]TheVenetianMask 56 points57 points  (8 children)

PHP is fine as an API wrapper, which is what all of these things are at the end of the day. AI is the new asbestos, 50 years from now there'll be people still pulling it out from the weirdest places.

[–]nordic-nomad 20 points21 points  (2 children)

God, imagine the pain of sanitizing data sources in the future. I can’t even fucking comprehend the nightmare that will be for some future team of burnt out junior developers.

[–]Junglizm 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This is honestly the best analogy I have heard for it yet.

[–]namonite 497 points498 points  (10 children)

Investor pitch:

“Imagine: AIBirds”

Board goes nuts

CFO head explodes

CEO makes out with secretary

[–]nyuhokie 120 points121 points  (2 children)

Theres a non-zero chance that this was a typo that someone in charge doubled down on, and is now stuck with.

[–]d3l3t3rious 30 points31 points  (0 children)

They're partnering with AIExpress.com

[–]YellowAppropriate676 16 points17 points  (0 children)

*CEO makes out with VP of HR

[–]Lyndon_Boner_Johnson 10 points11 points  (1 child)

I thought all birds were already AI

[–]BigMax 135 points136 points  (2 children)

For a split second, I literally thought this might be a leftover April Fools headline.

[–]cybercuzco 104 points105 points  (8 children)

Sure but if you are old enough this is exactly what would happen in the dotcom bubble. Some steel mill would get a website and take off.

[–]FrankBattaglia 95 points96 points  (5 children)

You don't have to go that far back:

In 2017, the corporation (Long Island Iced Tea Corp.) rebranded as Long Blockchain Corp. as part of a corporate shift towards "exploration of and investment in opportunities that leverage the benefits of blockchain technology" and reported they were exploring blockchain-related acquisitions. Its stock price spiked as much as 380% after the announcement.

...

On February 22, 2021, the SEC delisted Long Blockchain Corp's shares, saying that the company had not filed financial reports since September 30, 2018, and that it never completed its planned transition to producing blockchain technology.

In July 2021, SEC charged three people with insider trading. The SEC alleged that the day before the announcement, the company's leading shareholder tipped off a stock broker who then tipped off his friend, who bought 35,000 shares of the stock and sold it 2 hours after the announcement for a profit of $160,000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Blockchain_Corp.

[–]Archer1407 23 points24 points  (3 children)

I have a feeling this type of pump and dump is on the horizon for game stop. They keep talking about a pivot and they gave all the shareholders warrants that expire this October. This is probably the exact business plan for the stock, especially with a CEO who rug pulled hard on bed bath and beyond already.

[–]brunocborges 28 points29 points  (0 children)

We live in the bot-owned stock trade market.

[–]mion81 13 points14 points  (1 child)

How many tachyons does it cost to get out of it 🤮

[–]Glum_Avocado_9511 3174 points3175 points  (115 children)

Failed shoe startup announces pivot to AI infrastructure and their stock quadruples instantly? Very normal and cool. 

[–]lukef555 1720 points1721 points  (52 children)

Not only that but their whole schtick as a shoe company was being environmentally friendly lol

[–]authorbrendancorbett 612 points613 points  (24 children)

This is what kills me. Big shoe companies have slowly improved environmental impact to varying degrees, but out comes Allbird with environment first, yay!

To pivot to AI, abandoning the entire point of eco-first, and having the stock boom is ridiculous.

[–]abc13680 139 points140 points  (10 children)

Doesn’t really change anything but the real Allbirds basically died earlier this year and sold all its assets to a management company (that owns the rights to Ed Hardy)

[–]Gurth-Brooks 46 points47 points  (8 children)

Kinda a shame because they were my favorite travel sneakers. Comfortable and water resistant.

[–]Equivalent-Stand1674 31 points32 points  (3 children)

The original Wool Runners and Tree Runners were amazing. They've strayed so far since then.

[–]Invisible_Friend1 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ll never forget allbirds advertising during Covid, manipulating people’s concern over doctor or nurse family members into buying their stupid shoes as a gift when what the doc actually needed was a fresh N95.

[–]MyVeryRealName 122 points123 points  (8 children)

Investors don't give a shit about the environment.

[–]elkresurgence 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah this is the most ridiculous customer betrayal since Noom pivoted to selling GLP-1 after making a name for itself with a psychology-informed weight loss program

[–]Wiggitywhackest 27 points28 points  (3 children)

They were sold recently to American Exchange Group, another one of these companies that buys struggling brands and quietly enshittifies the quality. They've been sticking mostly to fashion so the pivot to AI is extra weird and just absolutely reeks of pump and dump/saying whatever it takes to make a buck. Shitty people doing shitty things for money, pretty much what you'd expect from a company like this. I would be shocked to see anything at all come of this in the end.

[–]JustToViewPorn 50 points51 points  (3 children)

It’s like they never cared about being environmentally friendly, who woulda thunked it.

[–]Outlulz 54 points55 points  (0 children)

In 2016, they introduced their debut shoe – the Wool Runner – made with merino wool and became an instant success, particularly among “tech bros” that were drawn to the brand’s comfort and sustainability.

The CEO was a tech bro all along just chasing trends. Now the trend in Silicon Valley is fuck the earth, burn it down, Trump will back us up so he took off the mask.

[–]Reddit_is_fascist69 96 points97 points  (2 children)

Sounds like a pump and dump

[–]MightyFifi 93 points94 points  (24 children)

I actually really like their shoes...

Mine have lasted years from heavy use and I really like the wool shoes for my cold climate.

[–]Escape-artist-43 24 points25 points  (2 children)

I really loved the feel and the look of them, but mine kept ripping/acquiring general damage too often to justify the price of buying new ones.

[–]Goldpanda94 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah i still have and use my pair of wool runners from then they first came out. I have another pair of the more casual looking style too and they are my favorite shoes to wear. Literally dont get foot pain no matter how far I walk which is not true for other shoe brands ive worn

[–]WalkingCloud 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Some of the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned honestly. Don't love the look but didn't care once I wore them.

[–]eastcoasternj 2267 points2268 points  (87 children)

The stock market is an absolute joke.

[–]PM_DOLPHIN_PICS 602 points603 points  (45 children)

The dumbest and most gullible people on earth have all the money.

[–]SharrkBoy 175 points176 points  (29 children)

Unfortunately they know exactly what they’re doing

[–]StaleCanole 88 points89 points  (17 children)

the primary driver of success in the United States is not merit - it's willingness and ability to buy into various illusions.

The stock market is a prime example. It's made up of nothing but an idea in millions of peoples heads. People get very good at navigating an incredibly flawed illusio. The first step is the hardest for many people, and that's buying into it. Many can't and find it bewildering.

Other illusions include religion and even corporations - ladder climbers do well because they buy, or at least put in an effort to pretend to buy, the corporate version of reality.

[–]BassmanBiff 26 points27 points  (2 children)

I don't think most investors believe that stock markets are rational, I think they're just happy to act that way because they expect others to do the same, and then everybody "wins" as long as they all continue to agree on things like "AI means We Buy".

Nobody's betting on fundamentals anymore, they're betting on the behavior of other investors, and I think very few pretend otherwise. The market is an accurate reflection of the behavior of the market, I guess

[–]DeadWaterBed 10 points11 points  (6 children)

*some of them know what they're doing

[–]Trees-Are-Neat-- 26 points27 points  (5 children)

Or are we the dumb ones for working for peanuts and being miserable about it 

[–]Don_Pablo512 46 points47 points  (21 children)

Honestly cant wait for the bubble to burst and just get it done with, we live in a Looney Toon world

[–]ElGuano 560 points561 points  (27 children)

This is like when Kodak announced a shift from film to crypto.

[–]phileat 127 points128 points  (12 children)

Is this a real thing that happened? What the fuck?

[–]ElGuano 165 points166 points  (5 children)

Yeah, in 2018. HUGE stock boost when they announced. It was as dumb as it sounds today.

[–]HoboGir 51 points52 points  (4 children)

Then in 2020 they were turning into a pharmaceutical company. Trump had even pumped it with an announcement of $765mil in a federal loan.

[–]Mr06506 40 points41 points  (3 children)

That one isn't so dumb. They are a chemical company after all. Their longtime competitor Fujifilm make most of their money now from skincare.

[–]Asleep_Document9811 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Happened to a few brands recently... Atari, GameStop, Limewire... The kids of VCs are using their play money to buy defunct meme brands.

[–]offtodevnull 33 points34 points  (7 children)

Had they done that five years ago they'd really have something .. at least for a while yet apparently.

[–]ElGuano 25 points26 points  (6 children)

It was during the ICO boom. They doubled/tripled their stock price too:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kodak-creating-its-own-cryptocurrency-kodakcoin/

[–]AlkaiserSoze 529 points530 points  (62 children)

Allbirds made some really nice shoes that were completely recyclable. That was a wonderful product. Now they're doing AI. Which wastes resources.

[–]GettyRush 135 points136 points  (24 children)

I really like the shoes. They were light, comfortable, durable and cheap. Once they were dirty I would just put them in the wash. I was just about to order another pair because after over a year of wearing them daily I’ve worn the soles out. This sucks.

[–]Cirque14505 57 points58 points  (6 children)

They definitely aren’t durable anymore. Bought a pair a couple months ago and the tread is already worn down to nothing.

[–]Skensis 32 points33 points  (3 children)

The shoes aren't going away, those assets were just sold to a different company.

[–]Dobako 72 points73 points  (2 children)

I would be shocked if the shoes continue to be made in the same way, they will just slap the name on generic shoes now

[–]mariahpariah 21 points22 points  (13 children)

In my experience they fell apart so fast 

[–]Kamikurin 28 points29 points  (2 children)

YMMV ofc but I actually had a pair that was in good shape for ~5 years while wearing them maybe every other day while walking a lot, hiking, and skating, eventually the toe ripped, my biggest complaint was that the sole had very little grip

[–]GettyRush 14 points15 points  (5 children)

Really? I’m on my 3rd pair and they always lasted over a year and I’m hard on shoes.

[–]avogadro23 263 points264 points  (12 children)

What’s even more nuts is that Allbirds has always touted how environmentally friendly their shoes are. Now they’re going to be in one of the least environmentally friendly industries.

[–]mtranda 69 points70 points  (4 children)

Bold of you to assume they'll actually try delivering anything rather than just pumping and dumping. 

[–]mugwhyrt 19 points20 points  (2 children)

Yup. There's no way this isn't some kind of scam to scrape together a bit of extra cash before the company goes completely under.

[–]BorrisBorris 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Man I work at a clean energy company that had a great mission and now leadership has been pushing AI so hard. It’s really sad. Money rules all

[–]nankerjphelge 375 points376 points  (72 children)

Easiest short ever.

[–]j01101111sh 200 points201 points  (20 children)

Just remember that the market can stay irrational for a very long time....

[–]stillenacht 27 points28 points  (2 children)

Market now rejecting my short only 40 minutes later. Sad :(

[–]Manpooper 137 points138 points  (0 children)

This is totally normal. It's not a bubble. *sticks head in sand*

[–][deleted] 286 points287 points  (0 children)

This timeline blows.

[–]MustWarn0thers 66 points67 points  (4 children)

Buying compute resources and leasing them, wow what a unique and groundbreaking business model!

The wall street geniuses are blown away and can't pass up this opportunity. 

[–]IceBearKnows89 151 points152 points  (18 children)

It’s a giant bubble.

I’m in Oregon and a medium sized distillery here just did this.

Yup, pivoted directly from distilled spirits to crypto and AI. They still have the same employees. I swung by before they closed and the employees had no idea what their jobs were anymore. They were brewers, who now worked for a crypto/AI company?

Website is all nonsense and buzzwords. I get that it feels like the future/get rich quick scheme. The vast majority of these ventures are going to fail and fail hard.

Everyone can’t get into AI, there has to be some other parts of the economy left.

[–]OnePerformance9381 59 points60 points  (6 children)

I still don’t understand what any of these AI companies are providing.

[–]PublicFurryAccount 42 points43 points  (0 children)

A place for investors to dump money.

[–]BicycleOfLife 17 points18 points  (7 children)

What? A distillery to AI and crypto? What the hell does that even look like?

[–]UnionThug1733 28 points29 points  (0 children)

The most profitable day a company experiences is the day you light a match to collect the insurance

[–]IceBearKnows89 11 points12 points  (5 children)

Go check out Heritage Distillery in Oregon. If you can figure it out from their website then you are doing better than me.

[–]aussierulesisgrouse 17 points18 points  (4 children)

After more than a decade building brands, products, and distribution channels that rely on intellectual property, Heritage recognized a larger opportunity: the rise of the $80 trillion global IP economy and its growing role as the foundation of AI.

To participate directly in this shift, Heritage has launched the first publicly traded $IP treasury strategy. The company’s treasury will hold $IP, the native token of the Story Network.

By aligning its reserves with Story’s AI-native infrastructure for registering, licensing, and monetizing IP, Heritage gains exposure to the biggest opportunities disrupting the asset class.

This positions Heritage as the first publicly traded company to adopt a digital asset reserve focused exclusively on IP, and a bridge for public market investors to gain equity-based exposure to the $80 trillion asset class that will power the next generation of AI.

Uhhh… what the fuck lol

[–]IceBearKnows89 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Thank goodness I’m not the only one who has no idea what the hell all that means.

Appreciate you sharing that.

[–]elmatador12 99 points100 points  (4 children)

I’m pivoting to AI too. Can I have money please?

[–]PastyPajamas 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I read that like Mona Lisa Sapperstein.

[–]7screws 130 points131 points  (3 children)

How is this not an Onion article…

[–]HeronFew990 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I legitimately thought it was. Any company in a stock slump should just say "AI" and "data center" and watch their stock explode.

[–]RepresentativeCod757 108 points109 points  (1 child)

Excuse me what the fuck

[–]TheRatingsAgency 31 points32 points  (5 children)

300% - good grief this AI stuff is ridiculous

[–]VVarder 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I knew nothing about this company, apparently they are nearly dead, and this 300% doesn’t even hit their 2 year high. They were sold a week ago on a fire sale, so this is news ownership pumping the stock on the most ridiculous news.

[–]Drach88 30 points31 points  (0 children)

This is reminiscent of the late 90s in which companies simply added ".com" to their business name and saw their stock price shoot up speculatively.

[–]NBAFAN9000 67 points68 points  (0 children)

Why make shoe when AI do trick

[–]m64 21 points22 points  (0 children)

This is the Long Blockchain Corp. moment for AI.

[–]Far-Anywhere-2251 19 points20 points  (0 children)

they've sold their sole...

[–]Urass007 16 points17 points  (4 children)

I thought Sora bombing would mean that investors would be cautious about AI and the bubble would begin to burst.

Guess fucking not.. at least the first part. It will still burst.

[–]rogerwilcove 13 points14 points  (1 child)

But won’t even commit to changing the name to AIbirds

[–]ARealRain 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Went from creating shoes to creating shorts.

[–]tlh013091 28 points29 points  (3 children)

I mean, they’re a little late, aren’t they?

[–]Akuuntus 88 points89 points  (1 child)

Not too late for investors, apparently, who are eager as ever to prove themselves as the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet

[–]astrozombie2012 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It’s never too late to join the grift when there’s stupid people still around

[–]Doctor_Amazo 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Nothing highlights that AI is all bubble than this.

Investors are stupid.

The market needs better regulation.

[–]fightin_blue_hens 24 points25 points  (1 child)

VCs are the dumbest people on earth

[–]LookAnOwl 9 points10 points  (0 children)

A bunch of shoe designers just sitting there at an empty Claude Code terminal.

[–]EA827 7 points8 points  (0 children)

In other news I am now pivoting from being a loser to being and AI loser. Please pay me.

[–]Will2LiveFading 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The old pump and dump. Seems to be incredibly effective too. I fear the lack of foresight and intelligence in this country, hell the world.

[–]donac 8 points9 points  (1 child)

I'm thinking we all died during the pandemic, and now were in The Bad Place. Sigh.

[–]DrapedInVelvet 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Fun fact: watch it just be a shoe deal with Allen Iverson.

Stock crashes tomorrow.

[–]adamcmorrison 17 points18 points  (4 children)

Didnt it used to be hundreds of dollars?

[–]maybe-an-ai 17 points18 points  (0 children)

A ways back but they have been hovering around 5 dollars for years now.

[–]StillSwaying 30 points31 points  (10 children)

AI my ass.

They’re going to give up all of their customer data.

That should be pretty juicy considering the kind of people who bought their shoes.

[–]Effective-Method7485 15 points16 points  (9 children)

I wish I was smart enough to know how to short stocks

[–]MrDinglehut 6 points7 points  (1 child)

The market can stay stupid longer than your money can hold out

[–]AvailableReporter484 21 points22 points  (4 children)

Anyone else love that our entire global economy is completely reliant on a bubble? This shit rocks tbh

[–]the68thdimension 6 points7 points  (1 child)

That is absolutely bizarre. What the absolute hell. Surely that's got to be a pump and dump?

[–]PTS_Dreaming 6 points7 points  (1 child)

The modern US economy is all built upon a ponzi scheme.

Hell, Epstein, in pushing crypto 10 years ago, admits in writing (email) that it's a ponzi scheme.

Once this tech bubble crashes, we're all going to be better off.

[–]GryphonCough 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The investor class is so fucking stupid. 

[–]thenewguyonreddit 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Nike CEOs hate this one weird trick!

[–]polar_nopposite 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I would like to announce that I too, u/polar_nopposite, am pivoting to building AI datacenters. If you are VC please note the tip jar below.

[–]fraize 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Remember when every business was trying to be the Netflix of {insert-unrelated-industry-here}?

And when they were trying to become the Uber of {insert-unrelated-industry-here}?

And when every business was furiously trying to integrate the block-chain into their models?

...and every VC lapped it up, not because they thought each was a good pivot – but because they thought somebody else would think it was a good idea and they'd better buy in or FOMO.

The asteroid can't come soon enough. We're cooked.