Starbucks scraps AI inventory tool across North America: Reuters

CNBC ^ | 5/21/26

[CFW]

Starbucks SBUX.O terminated a worker-facing AI program for automating inventory counts this week, nine months after deploying it across its North American stores, according to an internal newsletter reviewed by Reuters and two people with direct knowledge of the situation.

The tool was part of CEO Brian Niccol’s efforts to fix the coffee chain’s persistent product shortages that he has blamed for hurting sales.

“Starting today, Automated Counting will be retired,” read an internal company newsletter from Monday that Reuters reviewed and verified with two employees. “Beverage components and milk will now be counted the same way you count other inventory categories in your coffeehouse.”

The automated counting app — designed to improve Starbucks’ visibility into shortages at stores — frequently miscounted and mislabeled items, such as confusing similar milk types or missing them altogether, Reuters reported in February. A video uploaded by Starbucks showed the tool failing to recognize a peppermint syrup bottle on the shelf as it counted adjacent bottles.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: ai; inventory; mistakes; starbucks

[CFW]

Inventory specialists across the nation are yelling, "Told ya so" as they update their resumes by increasing their required salary.

[Paladin2]

Who continues to “shrink” the store inventories?

[Jonty30]

I imagine workers take home premium ingredients for their homemade cappucinos with the machines bought from Walmart.

Starbucks could possibly cut some of the shortage by offering to sell to employees those premium ingredients at a discount.

[butlerweave]

Artificial Idiot

[PGR88]

this unfortunately is why you need layers of management

Geography HQs push their regional managers to have their store managers do an accurate inventory count and report it on time.

And everybody keeps performance records on shortages and on-time reporting. And it becomes clear quickly who isn’t up to par.

Sounds like bureaucracy, but its preferable to telling customers “sorry - we’re out of milk for your coffee.”

[T.B. Yoits]

No surprise. "Artificial Intelligence" isn't artificial and it isn't intelligence.

Someone in India, several hundred employees just lost their contract to monitor Starbucks inventory.

[CFW]

AI has a problem recognizing some things. Especially in regards to numbers. I guess it’s back to the drawing board for its inventory functions. Companies aren’t going to be able to get rid of all their middle management employees and replace them with AI.

[grey_whiskers]

Companies aren’t going to be able to get rid of all their middle management employees and replace them with AI.

They're trying: and what they don't send to AI, they're giving to H1-Bs and to India.