Key facts
- McDonald's is accused of illegally coordinating menu prices across its franchises using an AI-powered pricing system.
- The lawsuit alleges McDonald's violated US antitrust law by conspiring with franchisees to fix prices.
- The AI pricing system allegedly uses algorithms trained on nonpublic data.
- McDonald's stated the allegations are speculative and uninformed, asserting that AI does not set menu prices and franchisees make their own pricing decisions.
- The plaintiff seeks to represent a class of potentially millions of McDonald's customers.
McDonald's has been sued in federal court in Chicago in a proposed nationwide class action alleging the fast-food company illegally coordinates menu prices across its franchises and company-owned restaurants through an AI-powered pricing system.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, claims McDonald's violated US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic data. Reuters reported last week that McDonald's pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyze data from millions of daily transactions across its nearly 14,000 restaurants.
The lawsuit cited the Reuters article, which noted that other fast-food companies are also turning to AI to help with pricing and other operations. "Independent businesses must set their prices independently," the lawsuit stated.