A Reuters investigation accuses McDonald’s of using Artificial Intelligence to set menu prices in their US restaurants, indicating that prices may vary by just a few miles away.
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06/10/2026
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A McDonald’s is being accused of using Artificial Intelligence to set menu prices in the US, with known chain of restoration already coming to the public to react to claims that have arisen through a Reuters investigation.
This report from Reuters indicates that McDonald’s uses machine learning software to study millions of daily transactions, thus generating what the company defines as the ideal price for each menu in its restaurants. One of the factors that the system takes into account is how much customers in each restaurant are willing to pay.
Three different McDonald’s restaurants advanced to the publication that this system eventually resulted in different prices according to location. While in one of the restaurants a Big Mac costs $5.69 (EUR 5.06), the same item costs $6.89 (EUR 6.13) just over three kilometres away.
Reuters cannot, however, confirm that this price difference resulted from the Artificial Intelligence system, but five different restaurants that participated in the investigation claim that the company pressure them to use artificial intelligence tools.
Moreover, the publication claims to have talked to nine people with knowledge of this McDonald’s strategy and claims to have had access to photographs that confirm the existence of the system,
On the other hand, McDonald’s reacted to this investigation by stating that it is “specific and uninformed”, denying any dynamic pricing strategy that is changed in real time. Moreover, the company also notes that those responsible for the locations of its restaurants set their own prices and are not obliged to accept recommendations.
The company also claims that prices may vary according to local conditions – namely competition, costs and also demand from each restaurant.
Still, McDonald’s does not deny the use of Artificial Intelligence and only indicates that technology is not used to recommend prices for your restaurants menus. The company also claims that its pricing strategy is based on data, noting that this is the usual practice.