Key facts
- Major gas station operators including BP, Walmart, and 7-Eleven are defendants in a proposed class action lawsuit.
- The lawsuit alleges the use of an AI-based tool to coordinate high gas prices, violating antitrust laws.
- California Assembly Bill 325, intended to curb algorithmic price fixing, is cited as a violation.
- Drivers claim prices have increased by up to 30 cents per gallon in areas using the AI tool.
- The AI tool provider, Kalibrate, is also named as a defendant.
Major gas station operators, including BP, Walmart, and 7-Eleven, are facing a proposed class action lawsuit filed by California drivers who allege the companies used artificial intelligence to artificially inflate gasoline prices. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Sacramento, claims that the defendants violated the state's Cartwright Act, its main antitrust law, by employing an AI-based tool from a company called Kalibrate. This tool allegedly uses data from competing gas stations to coordinate high prices, thereby extracting more money from consumers. Drivers also assert that this scheme violates Assembly Bill 325, a California law enacted on January 1, which was designed to combat algorithmic price fixing. The complaint states that in areas where a significant percentage of stations utilize the AI tool, gas prices have risen by as much as 30 cents per gallon, contributing to prices sometimes reaching $7 per gallon. The defendants collectively operate over 1,700 gas stations in California. Neither the defendants nor Kalibrate immediately responded to requests for comment or declined to comment. Californians currently pay the highest gas prices in the nation, with regular gasoline averaging $5.58 per gallon, according to AAA, compared to the national average of $3.93. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for drivers who allegedly paid inflated prices for gasoline.