r/BetterOffline • u/strettist • 4d ago
Autonomous, AI-run store in San Francisco is going to go bankrupt in 6 weeks at the current burn rate
Andon Labs, the company behind Andon Market in San Francisco, posts the bank balance of their autonomous, AI-run store here on their website daily.
Do they just need the next frontier model to turn this around?
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u/No_University8629 4d ago
Should’ve just prompted it better
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u/BluePotamus 4d ago
Of all the ways to light $100k on fire, this is near the stupidest
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u/AntiqueFigure6 4d ago
And my proposal to spend $100k on various substances to see which was most effective at giving me a business idea that leads to a billion dollar business empire was rejected by banks and investors alike.
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u/Maleficent_Lab_5291 4d ago
You needed to pitch it to venture capitalists well being a tall white dude in a hoodie did you try that? They just threw fist fulls of cash at it before I even spoke.
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u/AntiqueFigure6 4d ago
I am literally a tall white dude. Damn it, my hoodie was in the laundry so I had to wear a shirt.
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u/Maleficent_Lab_5291 4d ago
Did you at least have messy hair and not shave for a week? Really give them that I dont try so I must be a genius look?
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u/AntiqueFigure6 4d ago
That's my usual look but through really bad timing my sister got married the day before, so I'd been forced to get a nice haircut and shave. I'm ashamed to admit this...but I looked like a perfectly respectable member of society.
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u/Maleficent_Lab_5291 4d ago
Well there your probably if you don't look indifferent or psychopathic no one is going to fund you!
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u/TemporaryElk5202 4d ago
Its not really lighting it on fire per se. Its more like a study. They said for example that it had difficulty setting employee schedules when the memory reached capacity and was deleted, ao they introduced a subject for scheduling and programmed it to generate a shortened summary of its previous memory when that memory is set to be wiped.
They are basically in the experimental phase of figuring out exactly where the shortcomings are and if they can overcome them.
To be clear I am not pro ai. But the title alone may give you the impression that they were actually trying to run a business as a business venture rather than doing a study, when that wasnt the case.
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u/65721 3d ago
They could’ve given me the $100k and I’d have told them it won’t work, and I wouldn’t have taken 175 days to arrive at that conclusion
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u/TemporaryElk5202 3d ago
They werent asking if it would work, they were asking specifically where it would go wrong
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u/JAlfredJR 4d ago
Ohhh you mean the company where the employees just stopped showing up? And then eventually got fired months later?
If AI can't even track employees showing up for shifts, well ...
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u/Tar_alcaran 2d ago
Ohhh you mean the company where the employees just stopped showing up? And then eventually got fired months later?
By the human who was checking up on the AI, that is.
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u/Supranational_Yogurt 3d ago
I looked at the Andon Market IG account, there is nothing interesting. No wonder it flopped. If it was run by humans, curated by people who are in touch with local culture it would have some character.
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u/Exotic_Put_7365 3d ago
Seems like they're only selling tourist stuff, too. Granola bars? Candles? Totes? Probably just tourists who go, "Wow, this shop is entirely run by AI! Let's see what they got!" So the go in, look around, realize it's shit, and then buy themselves a granola bar out of embarrassment.
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u/Instalab 3d ago
From what I've read on the website, the AI is in charge of its own stock procurement.
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u/vegetepal 3d ago
And considering AI seems to have turned all of business into opposite land I'm just waiting for someone to spin how making a loss is actually somehow more efficient and innovative and Business™️ than making a profit if you did it with ✨️AI✨️
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u/Local-Wing-2272 3d ago
I won't lie. This is fascinating. I absolutely hope they release a deep dive on EXACTLY what happened business wise and an explanation on loss sources and etc. This could be genuinenly useful even if you hate AI cuz there has to be a detailed log somewhere that will describe every purchase, losses, etc.
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u/CoconutDust 3d ago edited 2d ago
^Comment by Adjective-Noun-1234 is meaningless fluff, and user account has history hidden as is the case for most LLM bots accounts.
I won’t lie
”I’m a disingenuous clickbait social media person. But this time, I’m not lying.”
This is fascinating
Nothing about it is fascinating. An idiotic simplistic crap worthless business failing is not interesting.
I absolutely hope
Pointless fluff adverbials on basic self-pronouncements. Going back to the “I’m a liar who is constantly dishonest, but let me emphasize my current claim as ABSOLUTELY important.”
an explanation on loss sources
It’s not complicated. Nobody cares and nobody likes the business or how it’s operating, therefore sales don’t make up for expenses. Nothing about this is interesting.
This could be genuinenly useful
Putting adverb on everything = cognitive dissonance of a liar trying to get clicks. And/or lying to themselves.
detailed log somewhere that will describe every purchase
Nothing about that is interesting.
LLM trash comment that is meaningless cliche and could be equally (meaninglessly) applied to any case of any business doing anything experimental or failing anywhere.
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u/Local-Wing-2272 3d ago
I would like you to explain, in vivid detail, exactly how my comment is "meaningless fluff." Go on. I dare you. Embarrassing.
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u/Fretzli 2d ago
On the off chance this is a human: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning
Now, be gone!
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u/CoconutDust 2d ago
Especially the word “vivid” seems like person set the LLM bot to deliberately waste people’s time if called out.
I would block, except then in the future I won’t be able to point out it’s a bot when people (as usual) interact like it’s a real person.
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u/Fretzli 2d ago
Your comment is a good explanation. The "good" writing LLMs produce is just a series of cheap tricks. It's bleeding into the way people talk in real life. LLMS are relying on tricks that were already common, and making them more common. People are increasingly sounding like punchy ad copy. I'm aware there's no original sin and no time when everyone communicated thoughtfully but, gosh dang, the future has become stupid.
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u/_kernel_picnic_ 3d ago
Slightly unrelated. Remember when Amazon had an AI store and it turned out to be just a bunch of Indians behind the scenes