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Production AI Institute public record · mcdonald's-customers · observed 2025-08-14
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mcdonald's-customers

mcdonald's-customers - organisation named in the AI Incident Database harm index.

Confidence
70%
Sources
6
Events
2
Observed
observed 348d ago
mcdonald's-customers

What changed

Between 2021 and mid-2024, McDonald's reportedly piloted an AI-enabled voice ordering system that was developed with IBM and based on its 2019 acquisition of Apprente. It was reportedly deployed at at over 100 U.S. drive-thrus. Social media posts alleged frequent misorders, such as adding unwanted items, mixing adjacent lane orders, and ignoring corrections. In June 2024, McDonald's confirmed it ended the IBM pilot, citing plans to explore alternative voice-AI vendors.

  • TikTokers are roasting McDonald's hilarious drive-thru AI order fails — and it shows that robots won't take over restau…https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktokers-show-failures-with-mcdonalds-drive-thru-ai-robots-2023-2
  • 'This is exactly why a person should take your order': Customer says McDonald's AI accidentally added 9 sweet teas to h…https://www.dailydot.com/irl/mcdonalds-ai-9-sweet-teas/
  • AI Incident Database - Incident 475https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/475/

Timeline

  1. 14 Aug 2025McDonald's Reportedly Ends IBM Partnership After AI Drive-Thru Ordering Errors at U.S. Locations
    Incident82%
    • TikTokers are roasting McDonald's hilarious drive-thru AI order fails — and it shows that robots won't take over restau…https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktokers-show-failures-with-mcdonalds-drive-thru-ai-robots-2023-2
    • 'This is exactly why a person should take your order': Customer says McDonald's AI accidentally added 9 sweet teas to h…https://www.dailydot.com/irl/mcdonalds-ai-9-sweet-teas/
    • AI Incident Database - Incident 475https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/475/
  2. 25 Oct 2022McDonald's AI Drive-Thru Allegedly Collected Biometric Customer Data without Consent, Violating BIPA
    Incident82%
    • McDonald's AI drive-thru bot accused of breaking biometrics privacy lawhttps://www.theregister.com/2021/06/10/mcdonalds_ai_lawsuit/
    • McDonald’s faces lawsuit over its voice recognition technologyhttps://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/mcdonalds-faces-lawsuit-over-its-voice-recognition-technology
    • AI Incident Database - Incident 360https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/360/

PSF mapping

No PSF domains are mapped to this entity in the current public record.

Source trail (6)

secondary · checked 9 July 2026

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secondary · checked 9 July 2026

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secondary · checked 14 Feb 2023

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secondary · checked 14 Feb 2023

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secondary · checked 5 Oct 2022

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secondary · checked 24 Aug 2022

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"mcdonald's-customers." https://www.productionai.institute/graph/entities/aiid-mcdonald-s-customers (observed 2025-08-14; retrieved 2026-07-28). PAI.

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