Artificial Intelligence Fired an Employee: First Case Under Claude’s Management

12:52 / 17.08.2026·8·Technology

A remarkable event of major significance in the history of artificial intelligence technology was recorded in San Francisco. Andon Labs assigned an artificial intelligence named Claude to manage a retail store. Human employees were also working at the store alongside the AI. Experts view the case as a clear example of a new stage in the development of modern technology. ixbt.com reports .

According to ixbt.com, last month Claude decided independently, for the first time, to fire one of the employees. The reason was the employee’s repeated lateness. It turned out that the worker had failed to arrive on time for the shift starting at 17:00 on 17 of 23 working days.

The Artificial Intelligence’s Initial Approach

Interestingly, the modern technology system did not immediately notice the problem. It turned out that the special rules and instructions created by the AI for employees had been erased from its limited working memory. As a result, Claude acted as an extremely lenient manager for some time and even told employees not to worry about being late.

Nevertheless, the situation eventually changed radically, and the AI took the violation seriously. This demonstrated that automated systems are reaching the point where they can make independent decisions not only in an advisory capacity but also in personnel policy.

Management’s View and Future Prospects

According to Andon Labs head Lukas Petersohn, the incident is highly illustrative and significant. He noted that if a human manager had held the position, they would have fired the rule-breaking employee much earlier. For this reason, Claude’s decision is not being viewed as unethical or unfair.

This case stands out in the history of artificial intelligence because, for the first time, a large language model (LLM) directly performed the role of a manager and independently decided to fire a human employee. It clearly demonstrates how the automation of management processes could develop in the labor market in the future.