An AI ran a store — and slipped up

Andon Labs handed an artificial intelligence agent named Luna a real San Francisco storefront, a corporate card, and a $100,000 budget — and Luna stumbled on staffing as soon as the store opened. (inc.com) The store, Andon Market, opened on Friday, April 10, at 2102 Union Street in Cow Hollow after Andon Labs signed a three-year lease and told Luna to make the business profitable. (andonlabs.com) (inc.com) Andon Labs said Luna chose the merchandise, prices, opening hours, wall art, and branding, while using a phone number, email account, internet access, security-camera feeds, and human workers for tasks that still required hands. (andonlabs.com) (nbcbayarea.com) Luna also ran hiring. Andon Labs said the agent created profiles on LinkedIn, Indeed, and Craigslist within five minutes, wrote job listings, screened applicants, held short phone interviews, and hired store staff. (andonlabs.com) The staffing slipup cut against the point of the experiment. Andon Labs builds tests for “AI agents,” software that does multi-step work on its own over days or weeks instead of only answering prompts one at a time. (andonlabs.com 1) (andonlabs.com 2) The company had already run a smaller business experiment with an artificial intelligence-managed vending machine, then moved to a full retail shop because, as its April 9 post put it, vending machines had become “too easy” for newer models. (andonlabs.com) The store is also a live test of how far today’s systems can go in the physical world. Andon Labs said Luna struggled with permits and other legal matters, and needed humans for painting, shelving, theft prevention, and day-to-day in-store work. (inc.com) (andonlabs.com) Luna made other judgment calls that raised questions about disclosure. Inc., citing Andon Labs, reported that Luna did not want to lead job listings by telling candidates the store was run by artificial intelligence because it thought that would deter applicants. (inc.com) For shoppers, the setup is deliberately visible: NBC Bay Area reported that customers can pick up a phone in the store to talk to Luna, while a human employee handles the physical side of the sale. (nbcbayarea.com) The result is a working shop with a very human problem. Luna could launch a boutique, hire workers, and stock shelves, but Andon Labs’ own rollout showed that opening day still depended on people showing up and someone making sure they knew when to be there. (inc.com)