McDonald's Sued in US Over AI Pricing

McDonald's is facing a proposed nationwide class-action lawsuit in the United States, with plaintiffs alleging that the fast-food giant used an artificial intelligence pricing system to illegally coordinate menu prices.

The suit was filed last Friday (October 2) in federal court in Chicago. The complaint claims McDonald's conspired with independent franchisees to manipulate prices using algorithms trained on non-public transaction data, violating U.S. antitrust laws. Previous Reuters reporting indicated that McDonald's pricing engine analyzes millions of daily transactions across nearly 14,000 locations.

In a statement released Monday, McDonald's rejected the allegations as subjective speculation without factual basis. The company asserted, "No Big Mac or any other item's price is set by AI," emphasizing that franchisees retain pricing authority and that data analytics tools are widely used across industries for recommendations.

This case follows recent U.S. lawsuits against hotels and apartment rentals over algorithmic price coordination. If courts ultimately rule that algorithmic outputs constitute illegal collusion, it could have significant legal implications for large chain enterprises relying on dynamic pricing.