McDonald's announced the end of its automated order-taking (AOT) program in an email to franchisees last Thursday.
Developed in partnership with IBM, the AI drive-thru test with IBM was implemented in over 100 restaurants in the U.S. in a two-year period.
In the franchisee email obtained by Restaurant Business, McDonald's Chief Restaurant Officer Mason Smoot highlighted the company’s reasons for ending the partnership.
"While there have been successes to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly," he said.
Wow, some big tech news - $mcd has ended their relationship with $IBM with our AOT program, automated order taking (I waited to tweet this until made public).
— McFranchisee (@McFranchisee) June 14, 2024
If you follow the thread below, it gives you all the deets from that past 5 years. We sold McD Tech Labs to IBM a few… https://t.co/JR8QHQN0Vbpic.twitter.com/eLi7AP7nuc
According to Smoot, the technology would be discontinued from participating locations by July 26.
McDonald's is currently seeking new partners to develop a new "voice ordering solution" by the end of the year, which will likely involve AI.
The Fast-Food Industry's AI Rush
McDonald's sold its McD Tech Labs to IBM in 2021.
Shortly after, the fast-food giant began testing the idea of a drive-thru with voice AI to find out if it could speed up service.
In a statement to Restaurant Business, McDonald's maintained that it would still use IBM products in store systems globally.
Meanwhile, IBM stated it would make a deal with other fast-food chains to implement its AI tech.
Ai Powered Drive-Thru Menu Board at WENDYS 😲 pic.twitter.com/f5rB8RPv5i
— Jason Björn (@JasonBjorn5) April 23, 2024
The fast-food business has been scrambling to adopt drive-thru AI tech lately, with some chains experimenting with AI including:
- Carl's Jr.
- Hardee's
- Checkers and Rally
- Dunkin
- Taco John's
- Wendy's
As of now, there are still many doubts about whether the tech is accurate enough for mainstream adoption.
Meanwhile, the mass adoption of AI in restaurant drive-thrus may pose another threat to workers in the near future.
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Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang
