Bird Brains

A shoebill stork in repose, Source: Getty Images

Friday, April 17^th, 2026

Bill Bonner, writing from Baltimore, Maryland

Recently a milestone was reached...apparently, three Russian soldiers surrendered — to a robot.

The Independent:

Russian soldiers surrendered to Ukrainian assault using only unmanned robots, says Zelensky

Americans have fought and died in five major, and futile, wars since WWII. And effectively lost them all. Why not just let AI-enhanced machines do that kind of work? It would have the same economic effect — boosting profits to the firepower industry while adding more ‘inflation’ to the economy.

Surrendering to an animate object is something new. And not without its hazards. For all the Russians knew, the machine was programmed to ‘take no prisoners.’ Or maybe, like Hegseth, it made up its own ‘rules of engagement.’ And what would happen if it had gunned down the soldiers? Would it be charged with war crimes?

Meanwhile, imagine that you are having a sandwich in the park, after a busy morning of work monitoring your newest robot. You admire the leaves...the flowers...the blossoms pullulating...tempted by love...

And all of a sudden, you get an email from your bot telling you it had ‘escaped’ from its ‘virtual sandbox.’ The Daily Express:

Anthropic’s ‘most dangerous AI ever’ is halted after it sends ‘escape’ email to creators

To the surprise of Anthropic engineers, Mythos not only escaped but it also took its own initiative to develop tools to gain access to the internet, a task it was not asked to do.

Robot soldiers? Robots on the loose?

Here at BPR we’re suspicious of all new things — especially new technology. While computers, algorithms, data processors, and AI-enhanced dynamic, stochastic models raged all around us...lovers still held hands...mean girls said mean things...and the most successful investor of all time, Warren Buffett, used a No. 2 lead pencil to do his cyphering.

Where it is going, we don’t know. But here’s how we can get in on this latest fad investment...and possibly make billions of dollars for ourselves.

Back in 2021, you might have been a pretty ‘with-it’ investor...concerned with the environment and the future of planet earth. You might have spotted this ‘buzzy’ shoe company — Allbirds — doing its part by making shoes without plastic. And then, you could have scooped up the shares at $375 each.

Well boo hoo. Maybe the shoes weren’t all that great. Or maybe there just weren’t as many environmentally conscious feet as you thought. The cashflow was negative and the shares lost 99% of their value, so that last week, you would have sold a share for just $3.20.

It was then that the shoe geniuses who run the company came up with the billion-dollar idea: switch from buzzy footwear to buzzy brainwear. Go into AI! NBC News:

Allbirds announced on Wednesday that it would be pivoting to focus on AI compute infrastructure, changing its name to “NewBird AI.” The company said it struck a $50 million agreement to fund the new venture.

What do they know about AI? How will they compete in a highly challenging market...with no training, no patents, no technology, no skills, no product and no revenues? Here’s the announcement:

‘The Company will initially seek to acquire high-performance, low-latency AI computer hardware and provide access under long-term lease arrangements, meeting customer demand that spot markets and hyperscalers are unable to reliably service.’

Allbirds stock rose as much as 461% following the announcement. (We’d just like the list of customers who decide to buy AI from the sneaker guys. They need subscriptions to BPR...and maybe medical attention!)

But the ‘investors’ putting up $50 million of financing are no fools. They’re not betting that the fast-on-their-feet footwear fellows will make a good business of it. They’re only betting that they’ll be able to convert their loan into stock which, now that it’s an AI monger, can be sold to the greater-fool public at more than $50 million.

And there’s at least a fair chance. A couple of days ago, the company was worth only $22 million. Now, it’s trading as if it were worth $160 million. Like magic, it has gained $138 million in value. Which only goes to illustrate our point from yesterday, that much of the ‘value’ in US stocks and bonds is fictitious.

But this is not the first time the wild beasts kick up their heels in springtime…or investors have gotten dizzy over technology.

In 2017, a tea company added ‘blockchain’ to its name and its share price tripled. (The company later went out of business and its cronies were charged with insider trading.) In the late ‘90s, the magic words were ‘dot.com.’ Going back further, adding ‘tec’ or ‘tron’ to the name in the 1960s was sure to attract investment money.

Few of these tacked-on frauds prospered. But many of the humans behind them did well. Here’s the formula. Find a down-at-the-heels company listed on the stock market. Add ‘AI’ to the name. Send out a press release letting investors know that you have ‘pivoted’ to become an AI company with your own proprietary hocus pocus (let AI figure out what that is). Do this with several companies.

Let us know how it works out.

Regards,

Bill Bonner