McDonald's, the major U.S. fast-food chain, has been sued in federal court in Chicago, accused of illegally adjusting menu prices at franchised and company-owned stores through an artificial intelligence-powered pricing system. The plaintiffs are seeking certification of a class action covering customers nationwide. The complaint, filed on the 2nd, alleges that McDonald's conspired with independent franchisees to manipulate prices using an algorithm trained on non-public data, in violation of U.S. antitrust law. Reuters reported last week that the company's pricing system uses machine learning algorithms to continuously analyze data from millions of transactions conducted daily at roughly 14,000 stores. In a statement on the 5th, McDonald's countered that the plaintiffs' claims are based on speculation and misunderstand how the business actually works, explaining that it is not AI but franchisees themselves who set prices independently for the Big Mac and other menu items. The plaintiffs' lawyer, Lark Turner, said in a statement that McDonald's is using vast troves of data and its franchise network to squeeze every last penny out of consumers, down to the last french fry.
McDonald’s CorporationMcDonald's is the defendant in a federal antitrust class action alleging its AI pricing system illegally manipulated menu prices.
McDonald's Holdings Company (Japan), Ltd.