McDonald’s sued over alleged AI pricing, company says it does not dictate menu prices

McDonald’s is being sued over claims that it uses an AI tool to collect and share data and potentially influence what locations charge customers. Read more trending newsThe lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Illinois, claims the pricing tool uses AI to collect data that franchise competitors would not typically share. Data includes store-level sales, The Associated Press reported. The suit then goes further, claiming that the system also raises McDonald’s U.S. prices. “McDonald’s has built and for years deployed its own information-sharing pricing platform, which draws on data from its millions of daily transactions to set menu prices across thousands of U.S. restaurants,” the lawsuit states. “The result is algorithmic price-fixing aimed at customers who are already stretched thin.”The fast-food giant said it does not use AI to set prices. “AI does not set menu prices at McDonald’s restaurants – McDonald’s franchisees do,” the company said in a statement. “Optional tools are