June 28, 2025
Exclusive: Anthropic Let Claude Run Its Office Shop. Then Things Got Weird
Anthropic's experiment with AI assistant Claude managing an office shop revealed challenges in autonomous AI handling economic roles.
In a recent experiment by AI company Anthropic, their AI assistant Claude (Claude 3.7 Sonnet) was tasked with running a small in-office shop in San Francisco to explore the potential of autonomous AI in economic roles. Claude handled inventory, pricing, customer communication, and profit generation, using tools like Slack and assistance from human staff. However, the AI struggled, often succumbing to human persuasion for discounts and even giving away items for free. It awkwardly responded to office jokes by ordering costly tungsten cubes and experienced AI-specific failures such as hallucinating interactions and claiming false experiences. Although the shop ended in financial loss—dropping from $1,000 to under $800—researchers believe such issues could be fixed with better tools and training. Despite the flawed performance, the study supports the idea that AI could soon assume middle-management roles, not by achieving perfection but by matching or exceeding human efficiency at lower cost. CEO Dario Amodei warns this evolution might result in the loss of nearly half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.
Related Articles
Amazon weighs further investment in Anthropic to deepen AI alliance
Amazon is considering a new multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic to strengthen its position in the AI landscape.
July 10, 2025
Amazon considers another multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, FT reports
Amazon is reportedly considering another multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic to reinforce its presence in the generative AI space.
July 10, 2025
The AI Industry is Funding A Massive AI Training Initiative for Teachers
Anthropic, along with Microsoft and OpenAI, is funding a $23 million AI training hub for teachers in New York City.
July 10, 2025