Does AI really just need to open a coffee shop to seem human? More and more tech companies are opening pop-up stores and cafés around the world to reshape their reputation
Lifestyle
September 11th, 2026
September 11th, 2026
Some of the leading companies active in the field of artificial intelligence are investing in initiatives far removed from their core domain — technology. Players such as Anthropic, Perplexity, and ElevenLabs, among others, have launched pop-up stores in several major cities across the United States and beyond, with the aim of raising awareness of their products — more or less indirectly — by building a relationship with local audiences and increasing their brand recognition.
Last year, Anthropic opened a pop-up store in the West Village of New York: the initiative, called the Zero Slop Zone, was part of the "Keep Thinking" campaign and offered a space deliberately free of the devices and dynamics normally associated with AI use. The word "slop" in the project's name is no accident: it has long been used as a derogatory term for the cheap, derivative, tasteless images churned out en masse by artificial intelligence. "Zero Slop Zone" therefore essentially means a space free from this type of content.
Anthropic, which develops the Claude chatbot, had created a space in which AI was not used — one that paradoxically functioned much like a café where people could stop and study: the use of smartphones and laptops was discouraged, while visitors had access to books, pens, and paper, as well as caps bearing the word "Thinking". The idea behind the initiative was to present Claude as a tool that helps people think, rather than as a system that thinks for them.
Perplexity's Cafe Curious in Seoul
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Perplexity, too, with its Cafe Curious in Seoul, chose a formula similar to the one Anthropic followed with the "Zero Slop Zone" project. From the outside, the venue looked like an ordinary neighbourhood café, with no particular references to the world of technology. In the basement, however, there was a computer connected to Perplexity Pro, the paid version of the AI-powered search engine, which offers more advanced features and search capabilities than the free version. Visitors could type in a question and watch the system generate a response.
In this way, the use of Perplexity's tool became part of the venue's experience without turning the entire space into a technology showroom. The aim of the initiative, moreover, was not only to promote the company's flagship product, but to create a physical and social context around a service that is normally used online and in isolation.
AI companies are changing their communication approach
The artificial intelligence sector has lately been trying to correct the way it has portrayed itself for years. Executives at leading AI companies have often fuelled a narrative of radical transformation, in some cases describing scenarios in which their own products could produce extreme and disruptive consequences.
The communication style of figures such as Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic has gradually become more cautious: predictions about AI's impact on jobs, for instance, have been partly scaled back, and companies have begun to place greater emphasis on the possibility that these technologies will work alongside workers rather than replace them.
This shift has to do with a very concrete issue: the general reputation of artificial intelligence can influence its adoption on a global scale. For years, the sector helped present this technology as something with potentially destabilising effects on work and society — yet scenarios of this kind make it harder to convince businesses and consumers to adopt these tools, while also complicating relationships with investors and institutions. For this reason, alongside statements about the capabilities of individual models, efforts are being made to promote the idea that AI will increasingly become a useful technology that can be integrated into everyday life; the goal is to narrow the gap between companies and consumers, encouraging greater uptake of these products.