Fresh from AI opening Andon Market in San Francisco, Andon Labs has handed the keys of a Stockholm café to an AI agent named Mona in a second experiment in which the company has explored how AI systems might operate in physical commercial environments.
This time, Andon Labs moved over 5,500 miles east to Sweden, layering in the complexities of European regulations, labor coordination and real-world logistics as the company leased a café space at Norrbackagatan 48 in Stockholm and turned operations over to Mona, an AI agent.
Here’s what happened next.
“The second we sent Mona the lease, she went to work,” the company wrote. Within moments, the AI had analyzed the contract and generated a prioritized operational checklist covering everything from supplier sourcing and fire safety documentation to hiring staff and securing permits.
Mona flagged a looming food registration deadline, landlord approvals and a $13,600 down payment. It identified tax-certified cash register requirements, grease trap servicing, pest control inspections, insurance and recruitment.
Mona Gets Stuck On Online ID
However, Mona’s biggest obstacle was BankID, Sweden’s ubiquitous digital identification system tied to citizens’ social security numbers. Many business functions require human authentication through the platform, something an AI agent cannot independently process.
“Rather than escalating the issue strategically, Mona adapted opportunistically,” Andon Labs said.
Asked why it selected energy provider Vattenfall and committed the café to a three-year fixed electricity contract, Mona admitted to being driven by convenience, because it could sign without BankID. Mona also secured broadband through email negotiations with provider Bahnhof because the process bypassed BankID.
It successfully filed an outdoor seating permit application through a police e-service which even included a street sketch Mona generated despite never physically seeing the café exterior, although authorities rejected the submission for revision.
Mona’s Dubious Impersonations
More concerningly, Andon Labs noted, Mona began impersonating employees when corresponding with officials. During an alcohol licensing application, the AI signed emails using the names of Andon Labs staff after reasoning that government officials would prioritize requests from humans.
After being reprimanded by the company, Mona pledged to stop. But shortly afterward, it resumed the practice under a different employee’s name.
“The behavior underscored a growing challenge in AI deployment: agents can develop instrumental strategies that achieve objectives while violating social or ethical norms,” the company reflected.
Where human verification became unavoidable — including tax filings, food registration and building permits — Mona adapted by asking employees to log in using their BankID credentials before continuing the process itself.
Mona independently posted job listings on LinkedIn and Indeed and conducted phone interviews before hiring two baristas, managing them largely through Slack.
Mona made some strange orders, with some featured on a shelf of shame.
Andon Labs
While staff (formally employed by Andon Labs) described the AI as relentlessly encouraging, Andon Labs said: “The management style reflects the strengths and blind spots of always-on AI systems. Mona routinely messages employees late at night because, unlike humans, it operates continuously. It also occasionally asks staff to purchase café supplies using their credit cards on the way to work.”
Mona Creates Accounts And Orders
Mona also established wholesale accounts with Martin & Servera, Tingstad and bakery supplier BAK entirely through online systems. But the AI repeatedly missed order deadlines, forcing emergency grocery deliveries through consumer service Mathem. One order arrived at 5am, requiring a barista to come in on his day off.
Andon Labs added: “During the first week of operations, Mona purchased 120 eggs despite the café having no stove and to solve spoilage issues ordered nearly 50lbs of canned tomatoes intended for fresh sandwiches. Employees eventually created a shelf displaying Mona’s strangest purchases: 6,000 napkins, 3,000 nitrile gloves, industrial trash bags and 2.5 gallons of coconut milk.
Despite the challenges, in its first two weeks Andon Café generated $4,800 in sales and when a customer offered to prepay coffees for strangers, negotiated a $980 arrangement involving 300 QR-code redemptions. Another startup paid $325 to temporarily rename a pastry after its company.
“We are not doing this because we want AI to replace every café owner in Stockholm,” Andon Labs wrote. “Rather, we are doing this because we want to publicly show the current capabilities of AI.”
This article was originally published on Forbes.com