McDonald's hit with lawsuit alleging AI pricing system violates antitrust laws

A lawsuit has been filed in Chicago against fast-food giant McDonald's, alleging the company conspired with its franchisees to fix menu prices using an AI-powered system. The proposed nationwide class action claims McDonald's violated US antitrust law by coordinating prices through algorithms trained on private data. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, cites a Reuters report stating McDonald's employs machine-learning algorithms to analyze data from millions of transactions across its nearly 14,000 restaurants.

The plaintiffs, represented by attorney Lark Turner, argue McDonald's uses its vast data resources and franchising model to charge customers extra amounts. The lawsuit demands to represent millions of potential McDonald's customers. McDonald's responded by calling the allegations "speculative and uninformed," insisting that franchisees set their own prices and that AI is used for pricing recommendations, which is common in many industries.