The new store has been opened, stocked and is operated by an AI boss called Luna.

Andon Labs

A new retail experiment in San Francisco, Ca. is testing how far AI can go, not just as a tool, but as the boss.

At 2102 Union St. in the Cow Hollow neighborhood, Andon Market, a boutique that opened April 1 (appropriately enough), an AI system named Luna is in charge, developed by Andon Labs and given a three-year lease, a $100,000 budget and access to a company credit card, then told to build and operate a profitable store.

“We did have to sign the lease, but other than that, she has full autonomy,” Andon Labs cofounder Lukas Petersson said.

Andon Labs has already been deploying AI agents into the real world, giving them tools and money and documenting the results and it is the creator of Claudius, the AI running a vending machine at Anthropic’s office.

But the company said that running vending machines has become too easy for them, so it decided to make it harder.

Entering the store, there are human employees because “Luna knew that she needed them”. Hence the AI posted job listings, held phone interviews and made hiring decisions. Everything, from product selection to prices, opening hours and a mural on the wall, was decided by Luna. She has a corporate card, a phone number, email, internet access and eyes through security cameras.

For the build-out, she found painters on Yelp, sent an enquiry, gave instructions over the phone, paid them after the job was done, and left a review. She found a contractor to build the furniture and set up shelving.

“In gig work, where the employer relationship is already somewhat ambiguous and algorithmic, an AI employer doesn’t feel like a dramatic leap," the company said, though hiring a full-time retail employee was a different question.