'AI washing': firms are scrambling to rebrand themselves as tech-focused

The big mood around this story? Pure eye-rolling. PR people in the UK say bosses are desperately slapping the letters “AI” onto almost anything — from scanners to basketball hoops — to look modern, clever, and worth more money. In plain English: old-fashioned automation is being dressed up in a shiny new outfit and sent out to charm investors and journalists. The reaction from readers was basically, please be serious. One commenter wondered who on earth is still falling for this, asking what kind of investor sees a shoe brand suddenly chasing AI chips and thinks, yes, this makes total sense. Sympathy levels for anyone getting burned by the hype were, let’s say, low.

The funniest community obsession was Allbirds apparently going from eco-friendly shoes to AI infrastructure, which commenters treated like the corporate equivalent of a midlife crisis. “How do you even make that decision?” became the unofficial theme of the thread. Others pointed out this isn’t new at all — years ago, companies did the same trick with “cloud,” and now the buzzword costume has changed. There was a tiny bit of pushback, with some saying AI really can help businesses if people with actual skills are involved. But the loudest vibe was disbelief mixed with meme energy: “What a time to be alive.” Translation: everyone can smell the rebrand, and the comments section is having a field day.