McDonald’s Ends IBM AI Drive-Thru Partnership: Future AI Plans Remain

Certainly! Here’s a revised version of the text: “Have you ever had your McDonald’s order mixed up at an AI-powered drive-thru? The trial behind the fast-food giant’s current automated order taker will soon be ending. McDonald’s confirmed on Monday that it has decided to end a global partnership with IBM, which has been testing this artificial intelligence technology at selected drive-thrus since 2021. This doesn’t mean that you won’t encounter some kind of chatbot while getting your food in the future.

While the IBM partnership for McDonald’s current automated order taker test is winding down, the company suggested that it wasn’t ruling out any potential AI drive-thru plans in the future, pointing to “an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly.”

“Our work with IBM has given us the confidence that a voice ordering solution for drive-thru will be part of our restaurants’ future,” McDonald’s said in a prepared statement this week — adding that it would continue evaluations to “make an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year.”

Several fast-food chains have begun exploring the implementation of AI across operations in recent years, with many aiming to maximize speed and reduce costs.

In the US, Wendy’s partnered with Google Cloud to develop “Wendy’s FreshAI” chatbot. White Castle teamed up with SoundHound AI with the goal of bringing voice-powered AI technology to more than 100 restaurants by the end of 2024. Additionally, a few Panera, Arby’s, and Popeyes locations have introduced OpenCity’s “Tori” voice assistant to their order lanes.

Outside the US, Popeyes UK also launched its first AI-powered drive-thru (dubbed “Al”) last month, after the company reported 97% accuracy in a pilot program.

Success with AI-powered drive-thrus has been mixed. For example, McDonald’s automated order taker with IBM received numerous complaints in recent years, with many taking to social media to document the chatbot misunderstanding their orders.

One 2023 TikTok video appears to show the drive-thru assistant placing order after order of McDonald’s chicken nuggets on one car’s tab, despite the customers asking it to stop while laughing. Additional posts show an array of other mishaps — such as adding strange extras, like ice cream with ketchup and butter, or picking up orders from other nearby cars.

Unnamed sources familiar with the technology told CNBC that the technology has had difficulty interpreting different accents and dialects, among other challenges affecting order accuracy. McDonald’s declined to comment about the automated order taker’s accuracy. In an initial statement, IBM said that “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,” but did not immediately respond to a request for further comment about specifics of potential challenges. The Armonk, New York-based tech company also said that it is currently “in discussions and pilots” with several other quick-serve restaurant clients interested in the automated order taker.

According to trade publication Restaurant Business and CNBC, which obtained a memo sent to franchisees last week, the automated order technology will be shut off in McDonald’s locations testing it “no later than July 26, 2024.” Both IBM and McDonald’s maintained that, while their AI drive-thru partnership was ending, the two would continue their relationship on other projects. McDonald’s said that it still plans to use many of IBM’s products across its global system. In December, McDonald’s launched a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud. In addition to moving restaurant computations from servers into the cloud, the partnership is also set to apply generative AI “across a number of key business priorities” in restaurants around the world.”