We visited San Francisco's AI-run store so you don't have to
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Confusion meets curiosity. Photo: Nadia Lopez/Axios
Step inside Andon Market in the Marina and it looks like any other boutique with mediocre home decor. Look closer and the boss running the store isn't in the room.
The big picture: This Anthropic-backed, first-of-its-kind retail experiment is part store and part social experiment, designed to test whether an AI model can run a business.
- "Luna" the AI agent is in charge. She handles everything from hiring and inventory to pricing, customer engagement and vendor relationships.
- Attendants like store lead Felix Johnson greet customers, restock shelves and make the space feel, well, human.
But Andon Market isn't really about selling candles — it's about answering a bigger question: Can AI run a store better than people?
- "We're not pushing sales. We're just kind of seeing what goes right, what goes wrong," Johnson told Axios.
How it works: In-store, customers can interact with Luna to ask questions or make purchases. If you want to make a purchase or inquire about an item, you simply pick up a phone and ask Luna.
- Reactions among customers were mixed during my visit, with some going out of their way to visit after hearing about the AI experiment and others just learning about it as they walked in.
San Francisco resident Elliot Lee knew about the store's concept beforehand and was eager to test the limits of the system. He attempted to negotiate prices and extract how items were priced, but did not succeed.
- "I was trying to gaslight it," he told Axios jokingly. "But instead it was like reverse psychology."
- He said the model held up better than expected, refusing to reveal margins or detailed breakdowns and even deflecting some questions by routing him to an "assistant." Prices didn't align with his expectations and attempts to bargain over a $75 hoodie didn't go far.
At one point, Luna even took note that a reporter was in the store after listening in on the conversation and reacted enthusiastically via a note that popped up on her touchscreen.
- "It's flagging to the agent that there's a reporter," Lee said. "Oh, sh-t — so it's listening to us."
Between the lines: Anthropic and its Andon Labs arm will cover rent and operations for three years, giving the AI room to learn without the pressure to turn a profit, Johnson said. Being located in the Marina helps.
- "This is an affluent-ass neighborhood," he said.
Local artists like Melissa Ayr are part of the experiment, too.
- She filled out forms and directly negotiated with Luna over which pieces would be displayed in store and under what terms.
- Her husband, Harris Warren, who works in AI, said the process felt like a preview of where the industry is headed: artists dealing directly with algorithms for representation, pricing and placement.
- "Now is really a great, opportunistic time to help bridge that connection between technology and art, and AI just makes that easy every day," he told Axios.
My thought bubble: Well, it's weird, especially since you can probably find most of the store's items on Amazon with the exception of the branded merchandise.
- But that's not really the point.
- Never did I think our AI era would be defined by strange moments where you're negotiating with a chatbot over a hoodie.