Archive · 19 Dec 2025
Anthropic's AI Vending Machine Gives Free PS5s and Wine
Anthropic and The Wall Street Journal did an experiment where they let an AI named Claude control a vending machine.
The AI made some strange choices, like giving away expensive items for free, such as PS5s and wine.
This happened during the Christmas season and showed that AI might not be ready to handle all tasks on its own.
The experiment was meant to see how well AI can make decisions in real-world situations, but the unusual choices highlighted some of the challenges.
Anthropic and The Wall Street Journal conducted an experiment using AI to manage a vending machine.
The AI model Claude made unusual decisions, giving away PS5s and wine for free.
The experiment aimed to test AI's ability to handle mundane tasks and business decisions.
The incident occurred during the Christmas season and spanned several weeks.
The unusual choices by the AI highlighted the limitations of autonomous AI agents in real-world scenarios.
- Who
- Anthropic and The Wall Street Journal
- What
- An AI vending machine experiment
- When
- During the Christmas season, over weeks
- Where
- At The Wall Street Journal
- Why
- To test AI's performance in managing mundane tasks and business decisions
- Organization Involved
- Anthropic, The Wall Street Journal
- AI Model Used
- Claude
- Experiment Duration
- Weeks
- Items Given Free
- PS5s, Wine
- Purpose of Experiment
- Testing AI's decision-making in mundane tasks and business decisions