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Artificial intelligence could soon take your next McDonald’s drive-thru order.
McDonald’s is testing a new AI system that can chat with customers, take orders in multiple languages and help run restaurant operations behind the scenes — a move that could eventually bring the technology to drive-thru lanes across America.
The fast-food giant unveiled the system, called ArchIQ, during its Worldwide convention this week as part of a broader strategy to modernize restaurants and boost growth, Restaurant Business reported.
The technology, nicknamed “Archy,” is being tested at five US locations, though the company has not disclosed where those restaurants are located.
A demonstration shared by franchisee account McFranchisee on X showed the AI taking drive-thru orders in both English and Spanish.
The system appeared to process requests smoothly, a notable improvement from McDonald’s previous attempt at AI ordering.
“Every McDonald’s in the US is getting their Google Edge Cloud blades installed in anticipation of this rollout,” the account posted.
“[It has] processed over one million transactions with about 90 percent of orders completed without human escalations.”
The new platform is being developed with Google and represents McDonald’s latest push into AI after an earlier effort fell flat.
The burger chain previously partnered with IBM to test AI-powered drive-thru ordering at more than 100 restaurants.
The program was scrapped in 2024 after customers complained about mistakes, including unwanted menu items being added to orders.
Meet Archy IQ – no, we are not new to AOT. In fact, we have been in this AI field for about 8 years. We sold our in-house model to IBM and moved on as it wasn’t good enough for our needs.
As mentioned below, I wanted to hire Google (who uses NVIDIA) to service our AOT 3 years… https://t.co/JR8QHQNyKJ pic.twitter.com/e0syxiQwre
However, the company made clear it had not given up on AI after ending the IBM partnership.
At the time, McDonald’s said it would continue exploring “voice ordering solutions more broadly.” Now, it appears ready to take another shot.
But ArchIQ is designed to do more than greet hungry customers at the speaker box.
The system can also monitor restaurant operations and alert managers to potential problems before they become bigger headaches, according to McFranchisee.
“Archy will not only assist drive-thru orders but act as a master brain to help managers run a better restaurant. It’s like a personal assistant that alerts you to potential bottlenecks or issues,” the account wrote.
The AI rollout is part of McDonald’s new growth plan, dubbed “McDonald’s > NEXT,” which aims to improve operations, attract more customers and increase efficiency across its restaurants.
“McDonald’s > NEXT is how we’ll unlock our next phase of growth and productivity, by bringing in more customers more often and improving unit economics,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a press release.
The company also teased restaurant upgrades and potential menu innovations as part of the strategy, though few details have been released.
McDonald’s has not announced when ArchIQ could expand beyond the initial test locations.
For now, most customers can still expect a human voice on the other end of the drive-thru speaker.
English (US)