Whenever someone visits Japan, they mention the sights, the food, the impeccable transportation. Oftentimes, they mention futuristic toilets: the ubiquity of bidets, their sound effects, and the turbo-powered jets that keep you clean.
Now Japan’s largest bidet maker, Toto, is doubling down on AI chips.
The announcement followed Allbirds’ pivot to become a chipmaker. But unlike the one-time shoe company’s switch from comfort to compute, Toto didn’t just flush its old business to make chips: it’s been making the same components to power the world’s AI infrastructure for years.
The ‘Allbirds’ effect
Last month, Allbirds, the sustainable shoe company that IPO’d in 2021 at $4.1 billion, watched sales halve, lost 99% of its stock value, and sold its brand for $39 million—then rebranded as NewBird AI.
