{"id":77415,"date":"2026-05-07T21:39:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/77415\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T21:39:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:39:46","slug":"heres-what-happened-after-ai-launched-and-ran-a-cafe-in-stockholm-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/77415\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s What Happened After AI Launched And Ran A Caf\u00e9 In Stockholm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh from AI opening Andon Market<\/a> in San Francisco, Andon Labs has handed the keys of a Stockholm caf\u00e9 to an AI agent named Mona in a second experiment in which the company has explored how AI systems<\/a> might operate in physical commercial environments.<\/p>\n

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 caf\u00e9 space at Norrbackagatan 48 in Stockholm and turned operations over to Mona, an AI agent.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what happened next.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second we sent Mona the lease, she went to work,\u201d the company wrote<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Mona Gets Stuck On Online ID<\/p>\n

However, Mona\u2019s biggest obstacle was BankID, Sweden\u2019s ubiquitous digital identification system tied to citizens\u2019 social security numbers. Many business functions require human authentication through the platform, something an AI agent cannot independently process.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than escalating the issue strategically, Mona adapted opportunistically,\u201d Andon Labs said.<\/p>\n

Asked why it selected energy provider Vattenfall and committed the caf\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n

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 caf\u00e9 exterior, although authorities rejected the submission for revision.<\/p>\n

Mona\u2019s Dubious Impersonations<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

After being reprimanded by the company, Mona pledged to stop. But shortly afterward, it resumed the practice under a different employee\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe behavior underscored a growing challenge in AI deployment: agents can develop instrumental strategies that achieve objectives while violating social or ethical norms,\u201d the company reflected.<\/p>\n

Where human verification became unavoidable \u2014 including tax filings, food registration and building permits \u2014 Mona adapted by asking employees to log in using their BankID credentials before continuing the process itself.<\/p>\n

Mona independently posted job listings on LinkedIn and Indeed and conducted phone interviews before hiring two baristas, managing them largely through Slack.<\/p>\n

\"Andon<\/p>\n

Mona made some strange orders, with some featured on a shelf of shame.<\/p>\n

Andon Labs<\/p>\n

While staff (formally employed by Andon Labs) described the AI as relentlessly encouraging, Andon Labs said: \u201cThe 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 caf\u00e9 supplies using their credit cards on the way to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mona Creates Accounts And Orders<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Andon Labs added: \u201cDuring the first week of operations, Mona purchased 120 eggs despite the caf\u00e9 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\u2019s strangest purchases: 6,000 napkins, 3,000 nitrile gloves, industrial trash bags and 2.5 gallons of coconut milk.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, in its first two weeks Andon Caf\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not doing this because we want AI to replace every caf\u00e9 owner in Stockholm,\u201d Andon Labs wrote. \u201cRather, we are doing this because we want to publicly show the current capabilities of AI<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on Forbes.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh from AI opening Andon Market in San Francisco, Andon Labs has handed the keys of a Stockholm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[41420,38498,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-77415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-agent-mona","9":"tag-andon-labs","10":"tag-stockholm","11":"tag-sweden"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116535464287426791","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}