In this modern era where seemingly every tech company is defined by its relationship with AI (or lack thereof), Allbirds has made perhaps the most 180-degree corporate pivot we've ever seen. In case you're unfamiliar, Allbirds was a direct-to-consumer company that made wool sneakers popular among Silicon Valley types in the 2010s. Take note of the past tense, because the company announced in a statement this week that it is completely abandoning the shoe business to instead become an AI firm. An unspecified investor has agreed to pony up $50 million to fund the brand's pivot to AI compute infrastructure; the money will go towards data center tech instead of shoe production. Don’t miss out on our latest stories:  Add Mashable as a trusted news source in Google . SEE ALSO: Nano Banana can now make personalized AI Images based on your Photos library Allbirds has also changed its name to NewBird AI. In a company statement, it proclaimed that it would help facilitate access to AI hardware for clients.…