McDonald’s Sued in Proposed Nationwide Class Action Over AI-Driven Menu Pricing

McDonald’s has been hit with a proposed nationwide class action in federal court in Chicago, accusing the fast-food giant of illegally coordinating menu prices across franchised and company-owned restaurants through an AI-powered pricing system. Filed Friday, the complaint says the company broke US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic data. “Independent businesses must set their prices independently,” the filing states.

The plaintiff, an Illinois resident, wants to represent a class that could include millions of customers. Attorney Lark Turner said McDonald’s is using its troves of data and franchise system to nickel-and-dime consumers down to the last French fry.

How McDonald’s Pricing Engine Works

According to Reuters, the company’s pricing engine relies on machine-learning algorithms that constantly analyze data from millions of daily transactions across nearly 14,000 restaurants. The lawsuit cites that reporting, which also noted that other fast-food chains are turning to AI for pricing and operations.

McDonald’s Response and Algorithmic Pricing Cases

McDonald’s called the claims speculative and uninformed. The company said AI does not set the price of a Big Mac or any other menu item, that franchisees make their own pricing decisions, and that pricing recommendation tools and analytics are widely used across industries. The case joins a growing wave of US class actions alleging that algorithms or AI were used to coordinate prices for hotel rooms, apartment rentals and other purchases.