> [..]
> AI will be able to help McDonald’s tailor its promotions and offers by using customer data such as prior purchasing history, and even linking it with weather data, Rice said. “A customer who we know loves our sweet treats could get an offer through the app for a McFlurry on a hot summer day,” he said.
So the pitch is that McDonald's franchises will use AI-driven deals to entice families who can no longer afford the 40% higher prices.
Once it detects who you are, it'll check to see how much money you have and jack up all their prices if they think you can afford it. Get a new job that comes with a 10% raise? Your prices at McD's will all go up by 10%.
It'll algorithmically determine how much money you're willing/able to spend to ensure that you're always forced to hand over the most money they can possibly get from you.
So maybe a daily coffee at off peak hours if it's within your commute idk
Grocery stores have operated like that since the 1950's. They have higher prices in-store, but if you can't afford those then you clip coupons to save, yes, often 40% or more.
And CVS and other stores already print coupons attached to my receipt that are customized just for me.
Why wouldn't McDonald's do the same thing with coupons/offers in their app?
It's just: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination
It is not hard to know if a machine is broken. There is an entire map dedicated to this, which shows state-wide broken rate as high as 40% for some states.
If you know these machines are broken and they are not being fixed, what use will be to know what machines will break in the future? This is not a technology problem, this is a business and people problem. Another case of companies using AI to garner positive marketing, instead of improving their service and customer's experience.
I am guessing the systems will be used for something like this: https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/25/y-combinator-deletes-posts...
Surveilling employees is a potential use case for AI. It’s not one I’m particularly fond of, and I wouldn’t want to build it, but I know how it could be done at a technical level.
Sensors on the equipment seems reasonable to me. Predicting failure in advance can avoid downtime or more costly damage. Machines with degrading performance and some underlying issue can also be a food safety issue, if it isn't addressed until they entirely fail.
That's a red herring. The actual thing preventing them is the franchise contracts that require all ice cream machine maintenance be performed by a specific company, because McD's corporate knows that otherwise franchisees will cut corners and leave the brand associated with listeria outbreaks.
Was that the story, or was the story that McDonald's was using copyright/DMCA in order to prevent their franchisees from repairing the ice cream machines?
Maybe.
You really think you had some novel map mcdonalds didn't have access to lol
I imagine those EAs will be watching this with interest.
> Depending on how you want to think about it, it was funny or inevitable or symbolic that the robotic takeover did not start at MIT, NASA, Microsoft or Ford. It started at a Burger-G restaurant in Cary, NC on May 17. It seemed like such a simple thing at the time, but May 17 marked a pivotal moment in human history.
> Without vision, robots could not move around or manipulate objects. All of the other hardware was there. Legs and balance systems to allow bipedal motion had been in place for decades. Robotic fingers and hands with very fine motor control were easy to create. AI software to set goals and make decisions was getting more powerful every day. Everything was there but the vision system.
It turns out that dexterity has been much harder than vision.
That has already happened with uber.
By number of locations, the top 5 are: Mixue, McDonalds, Starbucks, Subway, KFC. By revenue (note sorting in that table seems to be sorting strings), the top 5 are: Starbucks, KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, Chick-Fil-A. I'm surprised to see Burger King ahead of McDonalds.
For me the tell is their soda. My guilty McDonald's pleasure is their Coke mix. Something about it tastes much better than other restaurants or bottles. Except at some McDonald's where they seem to have the CO2 cranked up too much. I can't even get a consistent soft drink from McDonald's anymore. When I get unsalted fries though... those are basically inedible.
That is not the experience in other countries though, even in the US it is a pretty consistently shitty experience...
Not sure what you’re implying here, but McDonald’s is still contending for the bottom for price on fast food. Groceries are of course cheaper if that’s what you mean by “real food”, but there aren’t restaurants that really compete with that value meal outside of Taco Bell/Time and maybe Burger King.
The franchise has to pay fees and offer specific menu items. Small restaurants can outcompete in both price and quality.
The flip side is those places don't normally get enough foot traffic to offer their stuff "near cost", so they bundle it up into serving sizes in the $$ range that can last you a couple days. And they don't have brand marketing on their side... Joe's Diner can equally be a gem in the rough or in dire need of a new cook and a safety inspection...
IKEA does, at least here in Europe. Of course you're not going to find an IKEA on every third block but it you happen to have one around and want some average food a for fairly low (and sometimes very low) price they're a good option. They are also a reliable quality, Swedish meatballs are Swedish meatballs everywhere. A bit like McD, really...
No, that's exactly my point. McDonalds isn't all that cheap anymore. There are high-quality fast-casual restaurants and local shops that deliver much better quality food at roughly the same price point. E.g.: it looks like $12 is the current price for a Big Mac meal in my area. But I can think of several places I regularly go for lunch that would offer a handmade sandwich and proper side dish, made with organic ingredients no less, for the same price.
i’ve also noticed locations in Japan tend to taste a bit better. could be supply chain or something being different. not sure.
My opinion that nobody else has is that Japanese McDonald's is bad and worse than Silicon Valley McDonald's. Too much bread.
Kids love mcdonalds. Parents like seeing that, and get some relief.
also, as an adult, unhealthy food is sometimes tasty.
What fresh hell is this?
It sounds like McDonald's going back to the way it used to operate.
I knew a guy who used to repair the PDP-11's under the counters that ran each restaurant. He said the #1 failure mode was soda spilled in the machines.
No, they'll just let franchisees fire staff and keep the remainder at the same stress level.
At least snake oil was just placebo.
But in my experience the only people that dislike Five Guys are just complaining about price or are weirdly into In N Out or some other regional chain rivalry. Neither is actually complaining about the taste of the burger.
Crap tier fast food has gotten outrageously expensive. McDonald’s fry prices are up over 40% in 3 years
I checked up on it and it was closed - not even replaced with a shoebox.
Wait...
