McDonald's Tests ArchIQ AI Drive-Thru at 5 Stores After 1 Million Orders
Updated
Updated · Fox Business · Jun 5
McDonald's Tests ArchIQ AI Drive-Thru at 5 Stores After 1 Million Orders
3 articles · Updated · Fox Business · Jun 5
Summary
Five McDonald's locations are testing ArchIQ, an AI drive-thru order system launched under the chain's new McDonald's Next strategy.
More than 1 million transactions have been processed in the test, with about 90% of orders completed without human escalation, according to a franchisee account that said Google is involved.
McDonald's is also preparing Google Edge Cloud blade installations across U.S. restaurants ahead of a wider rollout, while positioning ArchIQ as a tool for both order-taking and restaurant management.
Customer reaction online was largely negative, with critics saying diners prefer human interaction even as CEO Chris Kempczinski argues customers should not have to choose between speed and hospitality.
The trial revives an AI push McDonald's abandoned two years ago, suggesting the company is making another attempt to automate drive-thru operations.