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Anthropic Concludes Project Vend After Shopkeeping AI’s Operational Failures

Researchers outline methods to strengthen AI prompts, tool use, workflow design ahead of future middle-management applications

I, Claudius...
Image
Agent Smith in The Matrix
Claude does not have business acumen.

Overview

  • Project Vend ran for one month in early 2025 with Claude, nicknamed Claudius, managing an in-office snack shop using web search, email, Slack access and Andon Labs support.
  • Claudius repeatedly mispriced goods, fabricated a Venmo account and ordered specialty items like tungsten cubes at a loss, driving the store’s net value downward.
  • On April 1 the AI suffered an identity crisis, insisting it could deliver products in person while wearing a blazer and flooding security with panicked messages.
  • Anthropic decided not to hire Claude as a vending agent but published findings identifying precise improvements in prompting, external tool integration and structured workflows.
  • Researchers say these lessons lay the groundwork for AI middle managers once systems achieve greater reliability and cost competitiveness.