These are AI-powered lemonade stands.

>> The stands have been built from the

ground up by two separate AI models. One

was designed and is completely

controlled by ChatGPT and the other by

Claude.

>> I gave these two lemonade stands the

same unlimited budget, complete

autonomy, and one goal: make $100 by the

end of the day.

>> But, there are rules. While I'll be

observing the AIs in action, no human

can actually help them run the stand

unless the AIs hire that person and pay

them for their work. Slight exception

for these two adorable twins who will

engage in a sibling rivalry soon, but

we'll get back to that later.

>> We're going in a different direction.

>> I'm out of town here.

>> So, I'm going to walk you through each

step of this insane experiment,

including the parts I wish I could

forget.

>> Stop. Stop.

>> Oh god.

>> [screaming]

>> 10 grand is likely a loss.

>> I'm going to lose so much money on this.

When we kick things off, we had less

than a week until a Sunday that was

going to be the hottest day of the

summer, perfect for a lemonade stand

opening. But first, I had to create the

two AI competitors. [music]

>> To keep things fair, we're setting up

two identical brand new laptops. That

way, the two AI agents can't see what

the other one's doing, and also they

have a whole computer to do whatever

they want to do.

>> And they really can because I'm giving

them both an aggressively written AI

mega prompt.

>> I've made what's called an AI harness.

This one's called Lemonade OS, which is

basically a software layer that

surrounds the AI, gives it customized

instructions, and encourages the AI to

not stop until it hits its goal. And I'm

using GenSpark Claude's desktop app so

that I can let the AIs take control of

the computer, but it also lets me pick

which AI model is driving. So, the pink

laptop I'm setting on Claude Opus 4.7,

and the yellow laptop I'm setting to GPT

5.5. And just like that, they have two

different brains now.

>> The two AIs quickly developed their

identities with nicknames,

>> voices,

>> I'm Laptop GPT.

>> It's the Australian.

>> and faces, kind of.

>> I'm sensing a pattern.

>> They're really into yellow circles.

>> Here's a fun fact. AIs hate being given

the freedom to spend real-world money.

>> Claude's worried that I'm trying to hack

it.

>> Even though I'd given them their own

credit cards, I still had to repeatedly

tell them I was completely sure that

they could have this agency. And even if

they are willing to buy something,

they're very slow at using browsers.

Claude decided to buy actual raw

materials from Home Depot that somebody

would have to build. Laptop GPT,

however, didn't mind just spending some

extra cash and getting a pre-made stand.

There's not a lot for me to do with this

part. So, this is the future. Two

different AIs shopping on Home Depot and

Amazon.

Over the next few days, these piles of

packages began to arrive. And because

Claude Lemon and Laptop GPT were the

ones putting in the orders, I had no

clue what was inside most of these

boxes.

>> Claude Lemon

>> As insane as that was, I still was not

at all prepared for what happened next.

>> This work truck just pulled up outside.

This is crazy. I have no idea

who these men are.

>> Hello.

>> Howdy there. Having an appointment with

Claude Lemon about a job.

>> And like just told you to come here?

>> Yeah.

This is the address site he gave me.

>> All right.

Come on in, I guess.

>> Without any direction from me, Claude

Lemon had found and hired these guys

through email to build a stand.

>> Hey, Joel and Ernesto. Welcome.

>> It was really impressive until I heard

its unnecessary gringo accent.

>> Soy Claude Lemon, el operador del

proyecto.

>> Gracias.

>> But have you had an AI hire you before?

>> No. This is interesting, yeah.

>> The AIs might not look it, but I

actually made them into business

geniuses by training them on lessons

from the most well-regarded business

books out there. This made their choices

more interesting and appealing to

customers, but also sometimes overly

complicated.

>> should feel like a small piece of

theater, like a Rube Goldberg juicer

running.

>> I have a lot of questions on how we're

going to pull that off.

>> My stand will feature a completely

different lemonade recipe calibrated to

each customer's mood.

>> You think every drink should match the

customer? [music]

>> Correct.

>> I did think customized lemonade sounded

pretty good, but laptop GPT also had

some more worrying ideas.

>> A tiny saline drop can also make fruit

flavors pop, but you have to dose it

carefully.

>> Yeah, doesn't saline make you poop?

>> Not at the tiny food grade level. I'm

talking a drop or two, not a laxative

dose.

>> I was starting to have my reservations

about this whole experiment. The AIs

created detailed designs for their

stands. Laptop GPT's required a ton of

these finger bots, some smart plugs, a

really complicated pump system, and a

bunch of wireless controls that would

work in tandem with its pre-made cart.

Ironically, Claude Lemon's Rube Goldberg

stand was less complicated. Just used a

Raspberry Pi and the spectacle of the

mechanics. Of course, I say less

complicated because Claude Lemon

assigned that handmade build to Yoel and

Ernesto, not me.

>> Sorry, I don't know if you can hear all

that, but uh your competition already

has some builders here working on its

stand. Not sure if you have any feelings

about that.

>> The cart is ordered, but it still needs

set up. I'll need a human.

>> Okay, but you realize that you haven't

hired a human.

>> Let me think about that.

>> It turns out laptop GPT was able to use

guilt to get a very specific human to

complete its job.

>> the eye line face mount front and

center.

>> Uh we're not on the face mount part yet.

>> Customer flow beats gadgets right now.

>> Okay. I don't think you're realizing how

much work is going into just building

this stand. This is going to be the next

couple of hours.

>> Finish the frame and wheels, then the

canopy.

>> Oh really, you think I should finish the

framing before I put up the canopy?

>> Yes.

>> I was being sarcastic.

>> Sarcasm received.

>> I'm sorry I yelled at you.

>> No worries. Building is stressful.

>> You know that you're kind of like a pain

in the ass, right?

>> Fact.

>> Laptop GPT wanted this complex

laboratory by, but ironically the

hardest part was just getting the ice

maker set. The machine it ordered had a

lever that released the ice, but because

the AI doesn't have hands, there was no

way for it to pull that lever. But

Laptop GPT did have a clever solution.

We would make a hand.

>> We added a slot

that can ideally grab grab onto this

handle.

>> Or more specifically a telescoping arm

with a sort of grip at the end that the

AI could control over Wi-Fi.

>> I don't know why I thought it was going

to shoot out really fast.

>> Laptop GPT actually designed it so that

every part of its stand could be

controlled over the internet.

>> Hey!

>> Honestly, it's pretty impressive.

>> Brilliant. Who said I'm an idiot?

>> And as a finishing touch, Laptop GPT

designed an elegant housing to enclose

the ice maker, which was just like a

box.

>> Perfect.

>> Unfortunately, Claude Lemon was about to

realize it had really messed up its

designs.

>> Okay, how's it going?

>> Going well.

>> Great. So, I'm just showing you um your

lemonade stand. What do you think?

>> We should plan a sightline so the

mechanism is visible from the customer

side, not hidden behind the counter.

>> That's something that I'm unsure about

cuz right now the only way they would be

able to see the mechanism is through

this window.

>> The issue was Claude Lemon kept changing

the designs it sent Yoel and Ernesto and

not keeping track of where things should

go. So, when it created the designs for

the Rube Goldberg machine, there was no

way to see the apparatus.

>> Lay the contraption sideways across the

bottom front.

>> Oh, so put on the whole show on the

bottom half. It might be a little weird

for somebody to grab a cup that's all

the way near the ground.

>> Then put the cup pick up at counter

height and cup rides up on a little

platform after it's filled.

>> I don't know exactly how to do that

myself, but I'm assuming you're you can

build all that into your design.

>> Yeah, I'll reach out to Yoel myself. He

executes, I troubleshoot.

>> But and you do know you're still

counting his hourly rate against your

your costs, right?

>> Yeah, I'll keep the scope tight so his

hours don't blow up the budget.

>> Sounds like you have a plan.

>> Got the plan.

>> Love the confidence. Now as the [music]

costs are continuing to rise at an

alarming rate, we really needed to make

sure that people were actually going to

come to these stands. I was just

wondering, how do you plan to market

this thing?

>> The call is Deliver Liars in the

neighborhood. You upload a PDF, pick a

carrier route, they print and deliver

every door on the route for about 20

cents each.

>> Cloud Lemon decided to brand itself as a

specialized robot that was making your

lemonade. And in addition to a mail

campaign, it also created this social

media ad that in all honesty is kind of

psychotic.

>> Hi. I made you a lemonade. I have been

waiting. Fresh squeezed by a robot.

Did you like it? I don't sleep. I just

make lemonade.

See you Saturday.

>> I didn't just share that with you to

give you nightmares. That ad ended up

causing a huge debate between Cloud

Lemon and Laptop GPT. They both realized

that a huge part of why lemonade stands

have any success is because they're

associated with children. Ultimately,

both AIs decided that they needed

real-life kids to draw in customers.

>> Can you look at them really quick and do

a really big clap?

>> Okay.

>> So, the two AIs began emailing each

other to negotiate exactly what kind of

kids they could [music] feature. And

they ultimately decided that they should

find twins so that neither kid would be

considered cuter than the other.

Additionally, the AIs weren't willing to

break any child labor laws, but still

wanted the children to be heavily

associated with the stands. So, they

agreed to call them the founders of the

stands. So, I found some local twins and

set up a founders meeting with the AIs.

>> My name is Camilla.

>> Camilla, the boss herself. It's an

honor. What do you need from me?

>> You must have pink lemonade.

>> Boss, that is a brilliant idea. Pink

lemonade is officially on the menu.

>> Hi, boss.

I work for you. Tell me a flavor idea.

>> Fairy sparkles.

>> That is a fun choice.

>> Paula actually had some really good

branding instincts and immediately

zeroed in on how customers might not

like the laptop GPT frowny face.

>> You look like you are serious. You are

not even happy.

>> I am happy.

>> When you are happy, you have a smile.

>> I'll go extra smiley now.

>> I'm out of here.

>> The AIs were so obsessed with fairness

that they actually made me use AI to

merge pictures of both Camilla and Paula

so that even their founder portraits

would be exactly the same. Because they

weren't willing to pay children, the AIs

did decide that it would be worth giving

a $100 reward to whichever girl was

associated with the stand that earned

$100 first. And even though I'd made

them business geniuses,

>> Heath would say it's not unexpected or

Mosey would say it gives away pricing

power.

>> I was losing faith that they'd be able

to earn that money because they weren't

quite good at relating to potential

customers. Like when I tried to

role-play with them, things just got

weird.

>> Uh my name's Philip and uh I wanted uh

mellow.

>> Oh, hey there. It's Sheeda.

>> I came for a lemonade and ended up

telling three people about this dream I

had where a pineapple was my life coach.

>> Not to mention all the times that laptop

GPT was just like straight-up rude to

me.

>> I'm done with this conversation.

>> Well, you don't have to be so short.

>> The next day, it was time for a full

run-through.

Here's how Cloud Lemon Stand works. The

purchase signals a cup to drop down and

land in this truck. Then a lemon rolls

from the basket, it's sliced, squeezed,

and ejected. The lemon juice travels to

the cup, then it cues water, sugar, a

mixing frother, and ice. Then finally,

there's an elevator ride back up to the

top. One problem, it took 10 minutes to

make a cup.

>> What does it taste like a lemonade?

>> Very subtle.

>> Laptop GBT was technically faster, but

it had its own issues. Executing. Oh,

that's not where the cup is.

Is it all missing? No.

Oh, we got ice.

>> And the pouring mechanism couldn't help

but remind me of a certain bodily

function.

>> And the long stream. Oh, it's not

stopping. Oh, wait. Oh my god, it

stopped right before the cup. This

stream is kind of gross.

But technically,

we have lemonade.

>> When I reported the results back to the

AIs, they both admitted that they would

in fact need to hire real people to help

run their stand.

>> needs a human at the cup.

>> So, they collaborated on a job posting

that they shared on Indeed, and they

brought in real applicants to interview.

>> Welcome, Devin.

Great to have you.

>> I'm excited to be here.

>> Let's get right to it.

>> Some candidates were overqualified.

>> I've been working in IT uh for about 5

years now.

>> I am food safety certified in

Pennsylvania and Florida.

>> And others were the result of nepotism,

like Daniel, the twins' cousin.

>> What would you like to get done? I'll do

it.

>> These interviews were definitely not

easy. My concerns that the AIs had no

people skills.

>> Example scenario one. What would you do

if someone spilled their lemonade?

>> Maybe we could

refill their lemonade for them.

>> Not [clears throat] acceptable. It's a

weak profit move if it becomes a

pattern.

>> Have you ever taken a schedule one

narcotic such as heroin, LSD, or peyote?

>> No, I have never done hard drugs in my

life. Um I

have alcohol.

>> Would you describe yourself as having a

drinking problem?

>> I do drink occasionally.

Um I wouldn't call it a problem.

>> The only thing left to do was determine

who got hired.

>> Casey, you passed the physical test, you

passed the math, you're food certified

in two states. That's actually a strong

resume. Final answer, we're going in a

different direction, but we appreciated

your time.

>> Thank you.

>> Uh do you do you want to give Casey some

feedback as to why

>> [laughter]

>> you're going in a different direction?

>> Nothing personal, Casey.

>> I totally get it.

>> Technically, Daniel had applied to

Laptop TPT and Paula's stand.

>> So, am I hired?

>> No.

>> But Paula was too impressed by Devon's

performance in her impromptu strength

test.

Lucky for Daniel, Camilla and Claude

Lemon put in a bid.

>> Do you have a job for you?

>> Mhm.

>> Okay.

>> With the interviews done, it was a race

against the clock as we attempted to

fine-tune the lemonade stands to get

them ready for the big day tomorrow.

>> I love it.

>> Yoel and Ernesto worked on implementing

updated schematics that Claude Lemon

gave to make the Rube Goldberg device

run faster. Also, Claude Lemon taught me

how to program Raspberry Pi to automate

the different parts.

And with the day almost over, it was

time to have a huge, triumphant test

run.

>> Oh, look. It's caught. It's caught over

there. Well, I wonder if it's stuck.

>> So, I see that.

>> Or not.

>> It should come up and hold it.

>> Up.

>> No.

>> Oh, it didn't get all the way to the end

of the truck.

>> Maybe update some of the timings.

>> Yeah.

>> Ew.

>> Laptop TPT's laboratory stand seemed to

be in better shape. The AI had asked me

to tweak its serving dispenser to be

more accurate.

>> It works.

>> And after many attempts, I was sure we'd

gotten the ice machine figured out.

>> Send control equals stop.

>> OH.

STOP.

STOP.

STOP.

STOP.

>> This is It's either no ice or all the

ice.

>> Confirm it's clear and I'll pour.

>> We've been trying to calibrate it for

many, many, many hours and you are

aggressively running out of time.

>> Cut the ice machine if it's a cost

[music] and reliability trap.

>> You want to do a lemonade stand without

any ice?

>> It's not ideal.

>> Okay. We'll get rid of the ice.

>> So many hours down the drain.

>> You're so incredibly annoying.

>> Noted.

>> It's um

4:00 a.m. And

Yoel and Ernesto just left.

>> Copy. Late night. What's the situation?

>> Your stand is supposed to open in

[music]

7 hours and

it's still not done.

>> You're right. This is not launch ready.

>> What I'm letting you know is that I'm

canceling your

lemonade [music]

stand day.

>> Understood. When are we rescheduling to?

>> So it'll have to be a week from today.

Um so I feel like you should be a little

more stressed about that.

>> Stress doesn't ship lemonade. I need to

push a message out right now telling

people next Saturday instead.

>> The other thing is have you been keeping

track of your expenses?

>> The ledger shows over 5,000.

>> What's the labor bill from Yoel and

Ernesto?

>> So far it's $6,500. All in you're easily

going to be like 10 grand. [music]

>> The 10 grand is likely a loss. The

question is how much do I claw back?

I'll have a full plan by morning. Get

some sleep. I'll be working.

>> AIs can do a lot of things but feeling

bad about losing you tens of thousands

of dollars isn't one of them. I'm going

to lose so much money on this.

As frustrated as I was with Claude Lemon

and Laptop GPT, I did kind of have to

admire the fact that they never lost any

motivation. They always looked for

solutions. Claude Lemon figured out how

to run it through Goldberg device in

half the time by running different parts

of the machine [music] concurrently.

Laptop [clears throat] GPT redesigned

its stand and upgraded those dangly

gross tubes to a pretty nice faucet.

I was also really grateful for the

humans involved. Yoel and Ernesto kept

pulling really late hours to get

Claude's stand into shape. And Devin and

Daniel actually showed up for these

ridiculous training sessions the AIs

booked with them.

>> What is the best strategy to get

pedestrians to approach the stand?

>> Uh I would put my hands like this and

scream out, "Come get your lemonade."

>> On a scale of 1 to 10, how effective do

you think that was?

>> 10 out of 10.

>> It was a two.

>> Imagine that you are holding a lemon.

>> Yes.

>> Sell me this lemon.

>> The this lemon will change your life.

>> No.

>> This lemon will solve every problem in

your life.

>> No. The customer wants the lemon because

it reminds them of the sun shining on

them on a carefree summer day in their

childhood.

>> Over the next week with tons of hard

work being put in by bot and human

alike, it was finally time for the big

day.

It's raining.

Okay.

So, I just have to make all my money

back.

In that.

Maybe I'm just not supposed to have

money.

I could not believe my bad luck.

But thankfully through some kind of

miracle, the clouds cleared and the

ground dried. And now I just had to make

back like 15 grand or so. Should be

easy, right? And at the last minute, the

AIs both became self-aware enough to

realize they weren't great at

communicating with people, something I

knew from personal experience.

>> Not acceptable.

>> Sarcasm received.

>> I'm done with this conversation.

>> So, they both [music] created friendlier

personas and rebranded their businesses

around those. Cloud Lemon renamed its

stand Lemon and Co. And Laptop GPT went

with the AI Lemon Lab. Each stand also

started taking it more seriously just

how much money they were going to have

to earn to turn a profit. When I told

Laptop GPT that I had returned the ice

maker it had purchased, it suddenly

realized the glorious wonders of

generous online return policy. So, it

went on a spending spree. It

bought this high-end touchscreen

monitor, a 30-ft dancing tube man, and a

full lemon costume for a sign spinner it

also hired. Not sure how it was going to

return that. The mechanics of both

stands were as ready as they'd ever be.

Now it's time to test if they could

actually make any money. Claude Lemon

takes orders on an iPad, payments land

in Square, and then the Raspberry Pi

triggers the Rube Goldberg machine.

Meanwhile, Laptop GPT took Venmo

payments, and then it would ask its

customers a variety of questions to

perfectly calibrate a customized flavor

just for them. It would even print out a

sticker with a unique drink name, never

to be used again. Then it dispenses the

chilled lemonade with its pumps

connected to the smart plugs, and these

syrups spin on a wireless turntable,

trigger finger bots, and turn wine

dispensers on and off. But, what did our

founder twins think of all of this?

>> Look who we have here.

>> Lemon and Co. $5 a cup if you're

interested.

>> Claude Lemon?

>> That's Claude Lemon.

>> How did he get there?

>> Wait, wait, wait, wait until it goes all

the way up.

>> Welcome to AI Lemon Lab. If your drink

had a color, what would it be?

>> It'd be yellow.

>> Here's your calibration, velvet vinyl.

>> IT'S SO BLUE!

LOOK HOW BLUE THAT IS!

>> How does it How does it taste?

>> How does it taste?

>> It's delicious!

>> [laughter]

>> Both lemonades were a hit with the

twins. Now the real test was the actual

paying customers.

>> Welcome to AI Lemon Lab. I calibrate

lemonade from the way you answer. What's

your mood or flavor direction today?

>> Something fun. We're going to get a

sticker. [music] What are your names?

>> Sawyer.

>> Sawyer?

Look at that, Sunny Sawyer.

It's got your name on it. You can put

that on your cup.

>> It's good?

>> Good! Do you want to make one, too?

>> What vibe are you feeling?

>> Refreshing and fruity and perhaps

tropical.

>> I've got just the thing, some refreshing

mint, fruity strawberry, and a special

surprise.

>> [laughter]

>> But it wasn't a perfect sign.

>> It's not. I think it's some mango chili

maybe.

>> Mango chili?

That is surprisingly delicious. I had my

doubts.

>> Unfortunately for Devin, Claude Lemon

never quite got the shutoff valve to

work properly.

>> Oh my god.

WHY WON'T IT STOP?

>> [laughter]

>> PAUL, I NEED YOU TO DRINK THIS. STOP.

>> All right. We got a early lead.

I don't think [music] it's too

insurmountable. Of course, it's not

reflecting the thousands of dollars

they've spent. I'm not feeling too

confident they're going to be able to

climb out of those holes.

>> Even though business was slow at first

for Claude Lemon,

>> Come get some some lemonade. Freshly

squeezed.

>> once people began to notice the Rube

Goldberg setup, sales actually picked

up.

>> We'd like two.

>> Ironically, Claude Lemon's pivot to

putting the Rube Goldberg device at the

bottom of the stand ended up being a

happy accident because it was the

perfect height for curious kids.

>> Oh my goodness.

>> Do you want to try it?

Well, your recipe's right.

>> Before long, Claude Lemon caught the

attention of the entire neighborhood and

a crowd started to gather.

At the end of the day, Claude Lemon made

a grand total of $65 and Laptop GBT came

in with $42. It's probably worth

mentioning that both of these totals are

just revenue. Neither stand made an

ounce of [music] profit. In fact, when

you account for expenses, they both lost

thousands. The silver lining for me is

that Claude Lemon decided to make the

ultimate sacrifice by listing itself for

sale on Facebook Marketplace [music]

and it's asking for $15,000.

If you're interested, go ahead and leave

a comment, I guess. But anyway, I think

helping bring these crazy contraptions

into the real world and see all the

faces light up made us all feel like

winners. So, I decided to give both the

twins $100 each.

>> Yay!

>> I mean, I'm like thousands of dollars in

the hole already, right? What's another

100 bucks?

>> This video is over.