--- title: "AI-Powered Smoothie Shop Goes Out of Business Almost Immediately" description: "An AI-powered \"bespoke smoothie shop\" called BetterBlends marketed itself as \"the most personalized restaurant, ever.\" It lasted three weeks." date: "2023-11-01" modified: "2023-11-01" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/ai-powered-smoothie-shop" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "ai bros" - "generative ai" - "san francisco" --- # AI-Powered Smoothie Shop Goes Out of Business Almost Immediately ![An AI-powered "bespoke smoothie shop" called BetterBlends marketed itself as "the most personalized restaurant, ever." It lasted three weeks.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* When it opened in September, an AI-powered "bespoke smoothie shop" dubbed BetterBlends [marketed itself]() as "the most personalized restaurant, ever." The concept was simple: you, the customer, would input your preferences into an app, and the AI would draft a hyper-personalized recipe that would then be blended by human employees. "We want to part the noise," BetterBlends co-founder Michael Parlato [told *The San Francisco Standard*]() upon the store's opening, in what can only be described as the most AI hype bro way to discuss frozen beverages imaginable. "This is a real application to solve a challenge." But already, [as *The Guardian* reports](), strange things are afoot at the startup's downtown San Francisco shop. Just weeks after its opening, it appears that the store has been all but abandoned — with not a single piece of organic fruit left in its wake. The timeline is pretty incredible even by tech hype standards. Again, this shop opened in early September. But according to the report, as of Oct 20, the doors were locked, with a note affixed to the door telling customers that the smoothie joint was "temporarily closed" and that staff would be back in an hour. Locals, however, told the *Guardian* that the shop had already been standing vacant for three weeks. Fast forward to that following Monday, per the report, and the storefront was completely empty, barring a left-behind trash can. As the *Guardian* notes, the venture's Google Maps profile paints a strange portrait of BetterBlends' brief time in business. Though the shop did receive a few decent reviews, the [only photo captured]() of any happy BetterBlends customers, posted to Google in July, strongly appears to be AI-generated; the smoothies they're holding feature the garbled, nonsensical text that's become indicative of synthetic imagery, and their fingers are oddly long and smooth. Residents of the area have also taken to the reviews section in the aftermath of the shop's abandonment, chalking the owners' bizarre departure up to a lack of restaurant know-how in what's a [difficult market for any hopeful store owner](), as the deeply troubled downtown San Fransisco's commercial real estate vacancies continue to soar. "I was hopeful for this business. The owners however did not understand the discipline to run a restaurant," [reads a one-star Google review](), posted two weeks ago. "It was often open late and closed early. They changed their hours after a week of being open. And then \[one\] day they put up a sign, 'Temporarily closed, be back in an hour.' They have not been back in over two weeks." The BetterBlends website is still functioning, and even still features a call for investors on its landing page, prompting potential funders to reach out if they "would like to contribute to the next generation of dining." But of course, as the owners of BetterBlends presumably now know, it probably takes more than a generative AI-powered recipe tool to bring about the future of dining. **More on the AI hype bubble at work:** [*Remember That Guy Who Gave ChatGPT $100 to Start a Business? It Failed Miserably*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()