Andon Labs, a San Francisco research company that evaluates AI safety and capability, turned its attention on the susceptibility of radio to AI takeover. The project is called Andon FM, and has staged four radio stations fully operated by AI models. The AI general managers (as it were) received budgets to acquire music, program schedules, sell ad space, take customer calls, and voice the DJs.
The write up of this very interesting experiment is HERE. “we’re exploring what happens when AI runs real businesses autonomously,” the company says. Its explorations to date include AI agents running a coffeehouse. “We wanted to see if they could run a company in the media sector,” the company says.
The experiment
In the radio experiment, four stations were set up, each run by a different AI brand. Each AI GM was given $20 of funding; when that slim budget ran out the bots had to negotiate in the real world. (One of them cut a small advertising deal.)
All this is interesting, but the real test is how the stations sound. Listen HERE — the streams are live feeds, so you have to click around to find announcing breaks. Scroll down that page for more business statistics.
This is a beautifully documented experiment, and in our opinion the result is impressive for newbie bot-DJs with little training. Everybody in radio should be aware of this.
