&#34;As long as you dare, a wool shoe factory can transform into a compute power powerhouse!&#34;
In an era where even uncles at the village entrance are discussing large models, the US stock market just witnessed a truly magical &#34;metamorphosis&#34;.
A company that originally sold wool shoes spent less than two weeks selling off all its footwear and instead bought a pile of GPUs (graphics processing units). Result? The stock price took off instantly, surging nearly six times in a single day!
<h2>No More Shoes! Silicon Valley's &#34;Footwear Giant&#34; Transforms into an AI Darling</h2>
On April 15, Allbirds, once hailed as the &#34;preferred combat boots for Silicon Valley coders&#34;, suddenly pulled off a major stunt: We're quitting! Selling shoes is too hard; we want to embrace the stars and the sea—transforming into AI compute power! The company has already decided on a new name: stop calling me Allbirds, please call me &#34;NewBird AI&#34;.
With this pitch painted out, Wall Street capital went wild. The stock price skyrocketed 580% within a single day, jumping from under $3—a &#34;beggar version&#34; stock—to $17, blowing up the market cap from a mere $21 million to $148 million.
What was most heart-stopping was that just two weeks before this &#34;AI drama&#34; unfolded, Allbirds had already sold off its core business—the brand trademarks and shoe assets—for a bargain price of $39 million.
After witnessing this &#34;abandoning shoes for AI&#34; move, even seasoned CNBC host Jim Cramer shook his head in disbelief on his show: &#34;This is simply absurd!&#34;
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/2d0b11fa-3ddd-42a0-9c8c-63faecaf51dc.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/2d0b11fa-3ddd-42a0-9c8c-63faecaf51dc.png"/>
<h2>Don't Ask, Just Say We're Selling Graphics Cards</h2>
How does a shoe seller get into AI? Allbirds' calculation is clear: they plan to borrow $50 million (expected to arrive by Q2 2026) to purchase a batch of high-performance GPUs, then act as &#34;compute power landlords,&#34; renting them out to hungry AI companies.
In their announcement, they framed it... oh sorry, outlined it as follows: &#34;AI is so hot right now that compute power is completely insufficient! There's no empty space left in North American data centers; compute capacity before 2026 has already been snapped up. Our NewBird AI is here to save the world!&#34;
Sounds exciting, doesn't it? But everyone knows how capital-intensive this business is. NVIDIA became a nearly $5 trillion giant by selling GPUs; do you really think carrying $50 million in borrowed dollars will allow you to make a big splash in the AI circle? In the AI world, that amount might barely cover a down payment and electricity bills.
<h2>Nike Gets Hit Collaterally: Big Brother, Shouldn't We Also Build a Data Center?</h2>
While Allbirds laughs all the way to the bank riding the AI hype wave, the steady shoe giant Nike is having second thoughts about its life choices.
At the same time, Nike's stock price fell to its lowest level in 11 years. With poor financial reports and dismal future expectations, the stock has halved compared to its 2021 peak, dropping approximately 76%.
At this moment, financial influencer Dr. Parik Patel posted a biting comment on X:
<blockquote>
&#34;Has Nike considered stopping shoe sales and transforming into an AI data center operator?&#34;
</blockquote>
This post instantly went viral, racking up half a million views. Netizens immediately followed suit:
<ul>
<li>&#34;Just Do It won't work anymore; from now on, it should be called Just Compute It!&#34;</li>
<li>&#34;Nike shoe boxes actually look quite a bit like server chassis; just stuff graphics cards inside!&#34;</li>
</ul>
After all, one side is struggling to sell shoes with no takers, while the other changes its name and sees its value explode overnight. Who wouldn't be confused seeing such a contrast?
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/b748792f-b92b-4077-9c79-93ab214eb156.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/b748792f-b92b-4077-9c79-93ab214eb156.png"/>
<h2>Familiar Recipe, Familiar Taste of &#34;Cutting Leeks&#34;</h2>
Old-school investors seeing this scene probably couldn't help but smile knowingly. The US stock market tactic of &#34;if you can't beat them, join the trend&#34; is far too familiar.
A few years ago, when Bitcoin was booming, countless ice tea sellers and online lending companies announced their entry into &#34;blockchain,&#34; causing their stock prices to soar instantly. When the hype faded, everything collapsed into a mess. Now, AI is taking the blame.
Looking back at Allbirds' journey, it's truly heartbreaking.
Founded in 2015 focusing on eco-friendly Merino wool shoes, it hit the aesthetic sweet spot of Silicon Valley elites. Back then, if you didn't wear a pair of Allbirds on your feet, you felt ashamed to greet anyone in Silicon Valley.
When it went public in 2021, it was incredibly glorious, with a valuation reaching $4 billion.
But what happened? In just a few short years, competition intensified, no one wanted to buy, and sales were cut in half. That super-influencer brand valued at $4 billion was eventually sold for a paltry $39 million.
But it doesn't matter. As long as the PowerPoint presentation is good enough, wool shoes can grow AI wings. Whether this &#34;NewBird&#34; flies high or crashes down to become a roasted chicken remains to be seen. Let's bring our stools and watch the show!

BIRD

"Silicon Valley Footwear Brand" Allbirds stages a magical transformation: selling all shoe assets to become a compute power landlord—NewBird AI. The name changed, the stock price soared. Seeing how lucrative cross-border AI ventures have become, Nike's stock, which has fallen back to levels from 11 years ago, has become the object of sympathy across the internet: Nike, if you must, let's go build a server room! Just Compute It !

- Allbirds, formerly a wool shoe company, swiftly transitioned to AI by selling its assets and purchasing GPUs, resulting in a remarkable stock price surge of nearly 580% in one day.  
- The company's rebranding to "NewBird AI" aims to capitalize on the booming AI market, despite skepticism about the sustainability of this business model with a mere $50 million investment planned for GPUs.  
- Meanwhile, Nike faces significant declines in stock value, prompting jokes about whether it should also pivot to an AI data center model amid its own struggles in the footwear market.

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Surge of 580%! 'Former Internet Celebrity' Allbirds 'Switches to Selling Compute Power', Sparks Frenzy; Netizens Urge Nike: "It's Time to Build a Data Center"