The trick: Human In The Loop
The first AI boss fired a human this week.
It had to be told its own rules first, and a human held the axe.
the first known AI termination of a human employee. Luna, Andon Labs' store manager built on Claude Sonnet 4.6, fired a worker at Andon Market in San Francisco for chronic lateness.
Before you read on. Your call?
TRUE, BUT
17/23
the conversation logs tell a smaller story than the Terminator headlines. Luna created an attendance policy months earlier, then lost track of its own policy while the lateness carried on. Andon Labs eventually intervened, asked Luna to search its own memory for its own rules, and only then did Luna recommend parting ways. Humans at the lab reviewed that recommendation and carried it out. The worker's record: 17 of 23 shifts started late, after what the lab describes as repeated warnings. Andon co-founder Lukas Petersson names the actual finding: 'We saw that a human boss would probably fire them much sooner.' The experiment's real result is the opposite of the headline: the AI manager was too lenient, too forgetful of its own rules, and structurally incapable of firing anyone without human prompting and human execution. The first AI firing was a human firing with an AI recommendation letter attached.
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The trick has a name
We call it Human In The Loop: autonomy claimed, humans did the work. You'll see it again. Learn to spot it →
Receipts
- Refutes thenextweb.com:
The agent had created an attendance policy months earlier. It then lost track of the policy, and the lateness carried on.
- Refutes thenextweb.com:
It asked Luna to search its own memory for its own rules, then assess whether the worker was still a good fit. Only then did Luna recommend parting ways. Humans at the lab reviewed that recommendation and carried it out.
- Context thenextweb.com:
We saw that a human boss would probably fire them much sooner
- Supports briefs.co:
An AI manager named Luna recommended dismissing a human employee for ongoing lateness, with 17 of the worker's 23 shifts starting late
- Context briefs.co:
Luna was given $100,000, a corporate credit card, and internet access to open and operate an Andon Labs store
- Supports freepressjournal.in:
An AI manager at San Francisco's Andon Market has fired a human worker after the employee arrived late for 17 of 23 shifts
Open the Receipts Pack → What each source proves, every figure traced, and what would change our verdict.