Elizabeth Warren and US lawmakers question McDonald's AI pricing
McDonald's is under the spotlight after US lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, raised concerns about its use of AI to generate menu price recommendations.
The worry? Machine learning could mean you pay more for your fries if the system thinks you're willing.
Lawmakers fear this could drive up prices and make things less fair between different McDonald's locations.
Lawmakers seek loyalty and antitrust details
Lawmakers have asked McDonald's for details on how customer loyalty data fits into their pricing and whether they've checked for any antitrust issues.
McDonald's has until November 16 to reply.
Meanwhile, the company says it doesn't use individual customer data and that franchisees pick their own prices, but some franchise owners have noticed bigger price gaps between stores lately.
All this comes as McDonald's faces lawsuits over alleged price coordination through its centralized systems.