A class-action lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Chicago against McDonald's, accusing the company of illegally coordinating menu prices between franchisees and its own restaurants using an artificial intelligence-based pricing system.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Chicago against McDonald's, accusing the company of illegally coordinating menu prices between franchisees and its own restaurants using an artificial intelligence-based pricing system.
According to the lawsuit, McDonald's violated U.S. antitrust laws by colluding with independent franchisees to fix prices through algorithms trained on non-public data. The document relies on a Reuters report that the company's pricing system uses machine learning to continuously analyze millions of daily transactions at the chain's nearly 14,000 restaurants.
"Independent businesses must set their own prices," the lawsuit states.
Plaintiff's attorney Lark Turner said: "McDonald's is using its vast amounts of data and franchise system to extract money from consumers down to the last french fry."
In an official statement, the company rejected the allegations, calling them baseless and ill-informed.
"Artificial intelligence does not set the price for a Big Mac or any other menu item," McDonald's said.
Representatives of the chain emphasized that franchisees independently make pricing decisions, and the use of analytical tools and recommendations is common practice in various industries.
The plaintiff, an Illinois resident who seeks to represent millions of McDonald's customers nationwide, is part of a new wave of class-action lawsuits in the U.S. that accuses companies of using algorithms and AI to artificially coordinate prices on everything from home rentals to hotel reservations.
