AI Manager Luna Fires Worker After 17 Late Arrivals at San Francisco Store

3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Aug 15

Andon Labs said Luna, the AI agent running Andon Market in San Francisco, recommended dismissing a human employee after the worker showed up late for 17 of 23 shifts.
Conversation logs show Luna had set an attendance policy but then lost track of it, letting the problem continue for months until the lab prompted the agent to review its rules and reassess the employee.
Months of warnings and extra training preceded the firing, which human staff reviewed and executed; Andon said workers remain formally employed by the lab with guaranteed pay and legal protections.
The case highlighted a current AI weakness as much as an AI milestone: Petersson said Luna was not unusually harsh, but failed to act without a direct prompt and likely moved slower than a human manager.
Luna has run the experiment since Andon Market opened on April 1 with a $100,000 budget, internet access and a corporate card, handling hiring and merchandising even though the store is still unprofitable.