Starbucks abandons its AI inventory tool after only nine months

Key points

• Sometimes, AI helps you fine-tune weather forecasts or improve the lives of people with disabilities.
• Other times, well, it loses a fight with a bottle of peppermint syrup.
• That's the situation Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol finds himself in after the coffee chain reportedly told staff that it's scrapping an AI inventory program after only nine months.
• Starbucks rolled out the "Automated Counting" software to its North American stores in September 2025. Developed in partnership with NomadGo, the AI-powered tool was supposed to speed up inventory tracking.
• Employees (likely fearing that they were holding their replacements) would use mobile devices to scan items on shelves.