Every once in a while, something happens in the world of technology that becomes prime fodder for a meme. What’s new: A shoe company suddenly and seemingly inexplicably pivoted to go all-in on AI.
The Allbirds were the subject of many jokes on social media Wednesday. But investors in the long-suffering company had something to celebrate. Shares soared after the company announced it would rebrand to NewBird AI and offer GPU computing as a service.
Check out some of our top comedy productions.
#1 As Ross Geller once shouted in a legendary “Friends” episode, “Pivot!”
#2 Someone goes shopping
I started buying hundreds of pairs of Allbirds shoes for $1.50 each because they weren’t selling as well.
So far, I have accumulated a portfolio of 15,000 pairs of Allbirds shoes.
Soon I will control the entire Allbirds market.
— Finance Guy (@GuyInFinance) April 15, 2026
#3 The rise of the “Wolf of Wall Street” meme
The company name is…NewBird AI. The company is a leading AI-native cloud infrastructure company. We used to make sneakers out of San Francisco, but John, forget that. We are currently awaiting the imminent deployment of next-generation GPU computing clusters. pic.twitter.com/ArYT41hx8J
— Negligible Capital (@negligible_cap) April 15, 2026
#4 It hurts
#5 So what happens?
Founded in 2015, Allbirds quickly became famous for its wool sneakers and a favorite among Silicon Valley’s tech fraternity. Former President Barack Obama was also spotted wearing the shoes in 2020.
He was also a darling of Wall Street. When the company made its trading debut in 2021, it was valued at $4 billion.
But after 2022, the shoe lost its luster and things started to fall apart. In 2023, Allbirds posted an annual loss of $101 million, and its stock price plummeted 47%.
In the years since, the company has launched products that have flopped, fired staff, and changed management, but nothing has turned things around.
Allbirds announced in March that New York-based fashion and consumer company American Exchange Group would acquire the company for $39 million.
The company’s stock price rose about 582% after its AI transformation on Wednesday. There was a slight correction in after-hours trading, with prices down 28%.