McDonald's Halts AI-Powered Drive-Thru Trial Amid Push For Automation

McDonald's is discontinuing its artificial intelligence (AI) ordering system at over 100 U.S. drive-thru locations in a potential setback in the fast food industry's rapid adoption of the new technology.

The decision comes despite the company's ongoing efforts to integrate AI into its operations. McDonald's had established a partnership with IBM in 2021 aiming to develop Automated Order Taking (AOT) technology as part of the fast-food giant's "Accelerating the Arches" growth strategy.

IBM touted the technology's advanced capabilities, including its speed and accuracy even under challenging conditions. However, McDonald's announced it will deactivate this technology in the participating restaurants by July 26, 2024, according to reporting from the trade publication Restaurant Business.

In an email to franchisees, McDonald's said that while IBM remains a valued partner, it will explore AI solutions with other companies moving forward.

McDonald's reassured that this move does not mark the end of its AI initiatives. The company plans to assess scalable, long-term solutions for voice-ordering technology by the end of 2024.

"While there have been successes to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly," Mason Smoot, chief restaurant officer for McDonald's USA, said in an email. "After a thoughtful review, McDonald's has decided to end our current partnership with IBM on AOT and the technology will be shut off in all restaurants currently testing it no later than July 26, 2024," Smoot added.

Later, in a statement, a company spokesperson said: "As we move forward, our work with IBM has given us the confidence that a voice-ordering solution for drive-thru will be part of our restaurants' future.

"We see tremendous opportunity in advancing our restaurant technology and will continue to evaluate long-term, scalable solutions that will help us make an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year."

IBM said it is talking with other fast-food chains for the use of its AI.

"IBM developed automated order taker technologies with McDonald's to support the emerging use of voice-activated AI in restaurant drive-thrus. This technology is proven to have some of the most comprehensive capabilities in the industry, fast and accurate in some of the most demanding conditions," a spokesperson said.

"While McDonald's is reevaluating and refining its plans for AOT, we look forward to continuing to work with them on a variety of other projects," the spokesperson added.