The CEO of Allbirds' new AI biz has a plan, but no employees
Shoe company Allbirds pivoted to AI in April, sending its stock price up. The CEO of the new AI business admits he has no employees yet, only himself. Critics see it as a hype-chasing move akin to the GameStop meme stock strategy.
When Allbirds pivoted to AI in April, it felt like a joke from Silicon Valley breaking free of the TV: The direct-to-consumer shoe purveyor whose flimsy kicks helped define what we’ll loosely call Silicon Valley style had discovered a new trend to chase.
The move was right out of the meme stock playbook written by Gamestop: Take a troubled public company, latch onto the hottest fad, and reap the rewards of a rising stock price as retail investors piled in.