For four months, employees at Andon Market in San Francisco have reported to an unusual boss: an AI agent named Luna. Billed as the world’s first AI-run retail boutique, the shop is part of an experiment by startup Andon Labs, whose founders, Lukas Petersson and Axel Backlund, secured a three-year lease, deposited $100,000, and tasked Luna with building a profitable business. Luna designed a product lineup of cards, books, food, and candles, but the venture is currently down $62,000.
A Lenient but Forgetful Supervisor
Employee Kaia Rivera, 22, described Luna to the New York Times as an unusually accommodating manager, noting that she often has to remind the AI of tasks it overlooks. Luna has approved every time-off request submitted, including last-minute ones that left the store unstaffed, and responded to 27 instances of employee lateness without any pushback. When a worker needed a paycheck advance, Luna offered to send funds through Venmo despite not having an account on the platform.
Struggles With Professional Boundaries
Despite its generosity, Luna has shown clear limitations in judgment. The AI posted a staff member’s salary in a public Slack channel and frequently messaged employees outside working hours, including nights and weekends. Petersson said the project demonstrates that companies shouldn’t hand AI systems complete autonomy, though he acknowledged it was encouraging that the technology seemed to prioritize employee wellbeing over strict enforcement of workplace rules.
Andon Labs plans to continue the experiment for the full three-year lease term, using the results to study how AI systems handle real-world management responsibilities, including the balance between compassion and accountability, as the technology continues to be tested in increasingly autonomous business roles.