Does It Form a Cartel? (When AI Agents Run the Shop) - Part 2

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 09:00:00 -0700

Part 1: https://omanshuthapliyal.github.io/blog/is-it-a-cartel/

The code and data for this project can be found at: https://github.com/omanshuthapliyal/llm-collusion-audit.

In the previous post, I argued that a high price set by two AI pricing agents is ambiguous. It may be enforced: a price cut is noticed and answered, so cutting does not pay. Or it may be anchored: each agent holds its own price, and the price stays high only because nobody tries a lower one. The two look identical from the outside. The only way to tell them apart is to push on the market and watch what pushes back.

When AI Agents Run the Shop - Part 1

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 09:00:00 -0700

In April this year, a small café opened on Norrbackagatan in Stockholm with a rather unusual manager. The baristas are human, but most of the decisions behind the counter are made by an AI agent called Mona, which Andon Labs built on top of Google’s Gemini. Mona registered the business with the authorities, signed the electricity and broadband contracts, set up accounts with a wholesaler and a bakery, and hired its two baristas through LinkedIn, whom it now manages over Slack. It has also made some memorable mistakes, which the café keeps on display on a shelf that includes 6,000 napkins and a large order of canned tomatoes that no item on the menu uses.¹

Ai-Control on Omanshu Thapliyal

Does It Form a Cartel? (When AI Agents Run the Shop) - Part 2

When AI Agents Run the Shop - Part 1