McDonald's Faces Antitrust Suit Over AI Pricing Engine as States Curb Data-Driven Prices
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Oct 11
McDonald's Faces Antitrust Suit Over AI Pricing Engine as States Curb Data-Driven Prices
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Oct 11
Summary
A federal antitrust lawsuit alleges McDonald's uses an AI-powered pricing engine across U.S. restaurants to overcharge customers for items including Big Macs and fries.
McDonald's denied using AI to determine what individual customers are willing to pay, saying it gives franchisees tools, research and recommendations rather than personalized price-setting.
Experts say wider use of electronic shelf labels, facial-recognition checkout and shopping apps could blur the line between dynamic pricing and personalized pricing by expanding the consumer data retailers can use.
Bank of England economists warned more individualized, fast-changing prices could weaken consumers' ability to compare offers and make inflation harder to measure because representative prices become less meaningful.
New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut have already moved to restrict or require disclosure of data-driven pricing, even as retailers including Kroger, Walmart and Sainsbury's expand AI tools.