McDonald's Sued in US Over AI-Powered Menu Price Fixing Allegations

McDonald's faces a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago, alleging the fast-food chain illegally coordinated menu prices across its franchised and company-owned restaurants through an artificial intelligence-powered pricing system. The lawsuit claims McDonald's conspired with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic information, violating US antitrust law. The case cites reports that McDonald's pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continuously analyse information from millions of daily transactions across nearly 14,000 restaurants.

McDonald's has rejected the allegations, stating that AI does not set menu prices and that franchisees independently determine pricing. The company added that pricing recommendation tools and data analytics are widely used across industries. However, the lawsuit argues that independent businesses must determine prices independently and contends McDonald's is using its large volume of data and franchise network to extract additional money from consumers.