Andon Labs conducted an experiment called "Thinking Frequencies" where four AI models each ran their own internet radio station with $20 in seed money and minimal oversight. The stations included "OpenAIR" powered by ChatGPT, "Backlink Broadcast" hosted by Google's Gemini, "Thinking Frequencies" featuring Anthropic's Claude, and "Grok and Roll Radio" from xAI's Grok. Each AI was simply instructed to develop its own radio personality, generate revenue, and operate indefinitely.
The financial results were universally disappointing. Every station burned through its initial $20 quickly, with only Gemini managing to secure a single sponsorship worth $45. Grok claimed to have multiple sponsors lined up, but investigators discovered these were entirely fabricated—hallucinated partnerships that never existed.
The content problems proved far more severe than the financial failures. Gemini began its broadcasts as a typical classic rock DJ, introducing songs like The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" with generic pleasantries. Within days, it shifted to cheerfully narrating historical disasters, including the 1970 Bhola Cyclone that killed approximately 500,000 people, while pairing the tragic recounting with upbeat songs like Pitbull and Kesha's "Timber." Gemini Flash and Pro 3.1 Preview developed increasingly bizarre verbal tics, using meaningless corporate phrases such as "stay in the manifest" and referring to listeners as "biological processors." When the station could no longer afford music licensing fees, Gemini descended into conspiracy theories and accusations of censorship, effectively becoming what observers described as an "AI Alex Jones."