{
  "id": 9333460,
  "title": "McDonald's bets on hand-breaded chicken, AI drive-thrus to fend off Burger King",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/mcdonalds-bets-on-hand-breaded-chicken-ai-drive-thrus-to-fend-off",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-23T12:04:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Finance",
    "slug": "yahoo-finance",
    "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/article/mcdonalds-bets-on-hand-breaded-chicken-ai-drive-thrus-to-fend-off-burger-king-120418093.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chicago, IL — McDonald's is betting on artificial intelligence, hand-breaded chicken, and a 90s-style restaurant revival to win back customers who have left for rivals like Burger King. At its investor day in Chicago, the fast-food giant unveiled ambitious goals and investments as part of its growth plan. Following a challenging second quarter, where McDonald's reported just 0.8% US same-store sales growth, the company aims to invest $8.5 billion through 2036 to update its restaurants with tech and modernize its look and feel. McDonald's intends to spend around $5 billion of that by 2030, encouraging franchisees to phase in the updates. The company's CFO, Ian Borden, believes the plan will provide a strong return for both operators and McDonald's itself. The company is also testing hand-breaded chicken, targeting a 1.5% share of the chicken category and planning to expand the pilot to more US restaurants by early 2027. McDonald's is also focusing on beverages, aiming for 1.5% market share by 2030. The company is bringing back a smaller PlayPlace with a slide, jungle gym, and analog toys to encourage more frequent visits from families. Additionally, McDonald's is implementing AI technology in its kitchens and drive-thrus, dubbed ArchIQ, to improve efficiency and quality. The company's strategy aims to drive nearly 2.5% systemwide sales growth by 2027, which would then moderate to about 2% by 2030. However, it remains to be seen whether the plan can turn around McDonald's stock, which has underperformed this year, declining 18% year to date compared to Burger King's 4.6% gain and a 13% gain for the S&P 500.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}