San Francisco‑based Allbirds confirmed a definitive agreement with an institutional investor for a $50 million convertible financing facility. The capital, slated to close in Q2 2026, will fund a strategic shift toward AI compute infrastructure and supports a planned rebrand to NewBird AI. The move follows the earlier sale of Allbirds’ brand and footwear assets to American Exchange Group in the United States.

Demand for high‑performance GPU capacity has outpaced supply, with lead times stretching and data‑center vacancy at historic lows. NewBird AI intends to deploy the facility’s proceeds to purchase low‑latency GPU hardware and lease it to enterprises, AI developers, and researchers who cannot rely on spot markets or hyperscaler offerings. This lease model aims to plug a tight compute gap.

Conversion of the convertible note requires shareholder approval at a special meeting on May 18, with a special dividend planned for Q3 pending the asset‑sale vote. Placement agent Chardan and law firm Holland & Hart are handling the transaction. Post‑approval, investors who retain NewBird AI stock will own a stake in a growing GPU‑as‑a‑Service platform targeting enterprise AI workloads.