AI TraceTrace Foundation, Inc.
Creative GenerationVerified

Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, April 21, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.

Nike used generative AI tools in its Athlete Imagined Revolution (A.I.R.) project to create hundreds of concept shoe designs for 13 elite athletes, which were showcased at an exhibition in Paris in April 2024 and again at the 2024 Olympics. Human designers then refined the AI-generated visuals into final prototypes.

Details

Nike design teams interviewed athletes about their preferences and personalities, then submitted detailed prompts to generative AI models to produce hundreds of visual concepts. These AI images served as 'inspiration points'; human designers then narrowed them down and used 3D printing and computational design to build the final prototypes. The AI input was text prompts based on athlete feedback; the output was visual concept images. Nike has not publicly disclosed which specific generative AI tools were used. The project was described by Nike's own newsroom as a 'co-creation process' and is not a commercially available product for consumers.

Products affected

Nike A.I.R. (Athlete Imagined Revolution)Nike On Air exhibition

Sources & Evidence

Cite this record

Trace Foundation. (2026). Nike: Nike used generative AI tools in its Athlete Imagined Revolution (A.I.R.) project to create hundreds of concept shoe designs for 13 elite athletes, which were showcased at an exhibition in Paris in April 2024 and again at the 2024 Olympics. Human designers then refined the AI-generated visuals into final prototypes (data as of 2026-04-21) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/c69eacbb-5069-4539-83e2-59365bc60983. Accessed September 11, 2026.

Stable link
https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/c69eacbb-5069-4539-83e2-59365bc60983
Data as of
April 21, 2026
Last verified
April 22, 2026

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