By Waylon Cunningham
NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) – McDonald’s is increasingly using artificial intelligence to guide menu prices across the U.S. and some global markets, a plan that aims to boost headquarters’ profit but risks alienating customers and attracting antitrust scrutiny.
One pricing factor supercharged by AI: an estimate of how much each store’s patrons are willing to pay.
The details of how that pricing system works, its extensive use of AI, the company’s regulatory concerns and the tensions with its franchisees haven’t been previously reported. For this story, Reuters reviewed screenshots of the company pricing engine taken in August and interviewed nine sources with first-hand knowledge of the burger chain’s strategy.
McDonald’s pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyze data from millions of daily transactions across McDonald’s nearly 14,000 restaurants and generate what the company calls “the optimal price” at each location for each menu item, from Big Macs to discounted coffee for seniors.
The engine has widened existing price differences for the same product between restaurants, including from neighborhood to neighborhood within the same area, three franchisees told Reuters.
Screenshots of the interface franchisees use, reviewed by Reuters, show messages including: “Your restaurant is showing MEDIUM SENSITIVITY to Price” based in part on “customer willingness to pay in your area.” The platform also contains public price information pulled from online menus of nearby restaurants of competitors including Wendy’s and Burger King. Those chains said they do not use AI in pricing decisions.
A Reuters check of prices in September on the McDonald’s mobile app showed price differences. For example, a company-run store in Fresno, California sells a Big Mac for $5.69, but another company-run restaurant two miles away sells the same sandwich for $6.89, a 21% premium. Reuters could not confirm if the price difference is the result of the price engine’s recommendations or other factors.
McDonald’s says its franchisees are free to set their own prices, but five store owners told Reuters the company pressured them to use the AI-pricing tools. A franchisee document from June reviewed by Reuters shows McDonald’s records franchisees’ deviations from the recommendations in detail.
In January, McDonald’s started requiring franchisees to be “constructively engaging with McDonald’s approved Pricing Consultant and Tools” as part of its new business standards, according to an internal communication sent to franchisees and reviewed by Reuters.
Related Reading
- The 7 most intriguing details in Anthropic’s IPO prospectus2026-09-29
- Original: A year after joining Xiaomi, the 31-year-old AI genius girl was promoted to the highest rank by Lei Jun!2026-09-29
- OpenAI scraps release of its latest AI model over safety concerns2026-09-29
- At 31 years old and 2 years old, Luo Fuli has reached the full level, and she will become a partner if she goes up further!2026-09-29
- Apple, whose new machine has been questioned, is bidding farewell to its “faith pricing power”2026-09-29
