San Francisco-based startup Andon Labs has put an artificial intelligence agent nicknamed “Mona”, powered by Google's Gemini, in charge at the Andon Café in the Swedish capital. While human baristas still brew the coffee and serve the orders, Mona oversees almost every other aspect of the business, from hiring staff to managing inventory.

Emrah Karakaya, an associate professor of industrial economics at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, likened the experiment to “opening Pandora’s box" and said putting AI in charge can cause many problems.

Mona has ordered large amounts of supplies the small café does not need, including 6,000 napkins, four first-aid kits, 3,000 rubber gloves and canned tomatoes that are not used there. It has also had trouble ordering the right amount of bread. A staff member said the system sometimes forgets earlier orders because of its limited memory.

Since its opening in mid-April 2026, the café has made more than $5,700 in sales. However, less than $5,000 remains from its starting budget of more than $21,000. Much of the cash was spent on one-time setup costs, and the hope is that it eventually levels out and makes money.

Hanna Petersson, a member of Andon Labs' technical staff, said the experiment aims to explore the ethical questions that arise when AI employs people and runs a business, as AI is expected to play an increasingly important role in society.