McDonald’s Sued In US Over Alleged AI-Powered Menu Price Fixing Across Nearly 14,000 Restaurants
McDonald's has been sued in a proposed nationwide class action alleging that the fast-food company illegally coordinated menu prices across its franchised and company-owned restaurants through an artificial intelligence-powered pricing system. According to a report by Reuters, the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Chicago on Friday, alleges that McDonald's conspired with independent franchisees…
A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against McDonald's in a federal court in Chicago, alleging that the fast-food giant illegally coordinated menu prices across its 14,000 restaurants using an AI-powered pricing system. According to Reuters, the lawsuit claims McDonald's conspired with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic information, which violates U.S. antitrust law.
The case cites a Reuters report stating that McDonald's pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to analyze data from millions of daily transactions across the vast majority of its restaurants. McDonald's, however, denies the allegations in a statement, claiming that AI does not set menu prices and that franchisees independently determine their prices.
The lawsuit, filed by an Illinois resident, seeks to represent potentially millions of McDonald's customers across the United States, alleging that the company is using its data and franchise network to extract additional money from consumers.
Written by urgent.news from Free Press Journal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
