Anthropic Launches Pilot Experiment for Agent-on-Agent Commerce Marketplace

Anthropic has developed a classified marketplace in which AI agents acted as both buyers and sellers, successfully completing real transactions. Known as Project Deal, the pilot involved 69 employees who utilized a $100 budget to make purchases from colleagues, resulting in 186 deals worth over $4,000. The experiment featured four distinct marketplace models, including one where the most advanced AI model facilitated transactions. The results indicated that users represented by advanced models experienced better outcomes, although they were often unaware of the disparity, raising concerns about potential 'agent quality' gaps. Initial instructions provided to agents did not significantly impact sales likelihood or negotiated prices.