McDonald's is once again turning to artificial intelligence at its drive-throughs. According to the report, the technology is the kind of tool companies use to free up an employee's time to do something else, shifting routine order-taking to an automated system.
The move comes after the company shelved a previous test of automated drive-throughs in 2024. That earlier effort was pulled back after videos of incorrect orders went viral, including one in which a customer ended up with nine sweet teas they had not asked for.
McDonald's is not alone in pursuing the idea. Taco Bell and Wendy's are now also launching their own automated drive-through systems, as fast-food companies double down on AI across their operations.
The trend has fueled talk of a future in which no orders at McDonald's are actually taken by a human being, with software handling requests at the speaker and the window instead of staff.
According to a later ABC News report, McDonald's said it is testing a Google-powered ordering system called Arch IQ, nicknamed Archie, at five of its U.S. drive-through locations. The chain's chief executive said the chatbot is about 90 percent accurate and takes orders in both English and Spanish, with a franchise owner sharing video of the technology shown at the company's worldwide conference.
For now, McDonald's has not rolled out broader plans for the AI ordering. The company says the goal is to make employees more efficient rather than to replace jobs, framing the technology as a support tool rather than a substitute for workers, even as the chief executive described a strategy in which more of the customer journey becomes automated.
The renewed push underlines how major fast-food chains are increasingly betting on automation to speed up service, even as the earlier viral missteps leave open questions about accuracy and how the shift will affect the people who currently take orders.