It was, to put it mildly, a surprising move: Allbirds has never offered AI products or services, has zero expertise or history in the field, and has no GPU procurement teams or data center experience. So why do it? We are in an era of intense speculative fervor around AI that has led to big run-ups in stock values at the mere mention of the term.
Allbirds last week announced its new “canvas cruiser” collection, along with a partnership with Pantone, the color company. The company did not respond to a request for comment on whether it still planned to pursue the shoe line. Canvas is relatively new territory for a brand famous for its wool shoes—but Allbirds probably has better odds of pulling off a stylistic reinvention within its market category than it will trying to be something it clearly isn’t: an AI player.
