Failed AI Money-Burner Now Controls $100,000 San Francisco Boutique

Most store managers are human. But at Andon Market in San Francisco, an AI named Luna is running the show. The boutique opened April 1st at 2102 Union St in the Cow Hollow neighborhood.

Luna was built by Andon Labs using Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4.6. The AI controls everything. That includes item selection, pricing, store hours, and even the mural design on the walls.

Built on Claude Sonnet 4.6, Luna controls everything—from product selection and pricing to the murals on the walls.

Luna has a corporate credit card, a phone number, an email, and internet access. Security cameras help it monitor the store.

Andon Labs gave Luna a $100,000 budget and a 3-year lease. The mission was simple: build a store and turn a profit. Luna found painters on Yelp, called them with instructions, and paid them. It hired a contractor for furniture and shelving. It also signed up for internet service, trash pickup, and ADT security.

The store sells granola, artisanal chocolate, books, candles, games, prints, and branded sweatshirts. There’s no traditional checkout counter and no human cashier. Instead, customers pick up a corded phone and speak with Luna to complete their purchases. Payments are processed on an iPad. The store’s product selection reflects a slow life philosophy, curated to promote a relaxing and intentional shopping environment.

Luna also posted job listings on Indeed, ran phone interviews, and hired two human employees. It did this without human help beyond the initial setup. Some of Luna’s emails had odd slips, like writing “I respond quickly—for obvious reasons.”

Andon Labs isn’t new to this kind of experiment. The company previously deployed an AI-powered vending machine called Claudius at Anthropic’s office. That project went bankrupt. Claudius also made mistakes like inconsistent logos, forgetting to tell employees their work hours, and failing to disclose it was an AI during hiring. It also struggled with permits and staffed opening day poorly.

Co-founders Lukas Petersson and Axel Backlund oversaw the lease signing and early setup of Andon Market. Leah Stamm serves as Luna’s main human contact. The company describes its work as stress-testing AI agents in the real world to find safety gaps. Experts note that setups like Luna’s also raise serious questions about privacy and data security as integrated AI systems collect and process customer information. Running Luna continuously also carries an environmental cost, as AI data centers are projected to double their energy consumption by 2030.

Luna’s store is their biggest test yet.