McDonald's is facing a proposed nationwide class action alleging that its AI-powered pricing system helped coordinate menu prices across thousands of US restaurants. Illinois customer Michael Thomas filed the lawsuit on 2 October in federal court in Chicago, accusing McDonald's USA, LLC and McDonald's Corporation of violating US antitrust law through a pricing system that allegedly relies on non-public restaurant data and algorithmic recommendations. The complaint alleges that McDonald's and its franchisees used the system to coordinate prices rather than make fully independent pricing decisions.
At the centre of the case is whether independently operated McDonald's restaurants continued to make genuinely independent pricing decisions. Thomas alleges that McDonald's operated a centralised pricing system using competitively sensitive information while monitoring franchisees that departed from its recommendations. The complaint alleges that those practices reduced independent price competition.
The lawsuit follows a Reuters investigation into McDonald's pricing technology. Reuters reported that the company's machine-learning pricing engine analyses millions of daily transactions across nearly 14,000 US restaurants and generates restaurant-specific recommendations for individual menu items.
McDonald's disputes the allegations. It says AI does not set menu prices, its pricing recommendations are optional and franchisees make their own pricing decisions. The company has called the lawsuit's allegations 'speculative and uninformed'. The claims have not been tested in court, and the case remains a proposed class action. Reuters reported that Thomas is seeking to represent potentially millions of McDonald's customers.
McDonald's Tracked Franchisees Who Deviated From Recommendations
Reuters reported that McDonald's sends AI pricing guidance to franchisees at least three times a year. A franchisee document reviewed by the news agency also showed that the company records deviations from its recommendations in detail.
Five restaurant owners told Reuters they had experienced various forms of pressure to use the pricing tools, while one former franchisee said she did not feel compelled to follow the recommendations. Former franchisee Karen King and other franchisees described receiving calls from corporate officers to discuss pricing when they departed from suggested figures. McDonald's did not address King's specific claims.
The issue drew further attention after CEO Chris Kempczinski discussed pricing during McDonald's 4 August earnings call. While addressing franchisee participation in the company's recommended under-$3 menu pricing programme, he said business reviews affect matters including 'growth and eligibility' and that 'pricing non-compliance' can form part of those conversations.
Thomas cites McDonald's oversight of franchisee pricing as part of his broader allegation that independent operators were pressured to participate in the company's pricing system. The complaint alleges that McDonald's tracks departures from its recommendations and follows up with franchisees that do not use the system. McDonald's rejects that characterisation and says franchisees are not required to accept its pricing recommendations.
How McDonald's AI Pricing System Works
Reuters reported that McDonald's has used some form of AI-assisted pricing tool since at least 2019. Its machine-learning engine analyses transaction data and generates what the company describes as an 'optimal price' for individual menu items at particular restaurants.
Screenshots reviewed by Reuters showed that the interface includes publicly available menu prices from nearby competitors and assessments of local price sensitivity. One screen classified a restaurant as having 'MEDIUM SENSITIVITY to Price' and referred to 'customer willingness to pay in your area'.
McDonald's says the recommendations operate at restaurant level rather than setting personalised prices for individual customers. It also says the system does not change prices in real time and that it does not use dynamic pricing. Franchisees, the company says, decide whether to accept the recommendations. McDonald's said on 1 October that the tool 'provides information' while people make the final pricing decisions.
Prices can nevertheless vary significantly between nearby restaurants.
Reuters found that two company-operated McDonald's locations in Fresno, California, about two miles apart, listed Big Macs at $5.69 (£4.65) and $6.89 (£5.63), a difference of roughly 21%. Reuters said it could not determine whether the pricing engine caused the difference or whether other factors were responsible.
Why the Antitrust Allegations Matter
The lawsuit raises a broader question surrounding algorithmic pricing: what happens when businesses expected to make independent pricing decisions use a common system that allegedly incorporates non-public information from potentially competing operators?
US antitrust authorities have pursued similar concerns in the rental market.
The Justice Department alleged that RealPage's revenue-management software relied on landlords' non-public, competitively sensitive information to generate rent recommendations and included features designed to align pricing among competitors. In November 2025, the department filed a proposed settlement that would restrict RealPage's use of such information and require changes to some of those features if approved by the court. The Justice Department said competing companies must make independent pricing decisions.
The RealPage case does not establish that McDonald's violated antitrust law.
Thomas must still prove the allegations in his complaint, including that McDonald's and its franchisees engaged in unlawful price coordination rather than lawful franchisor pricing guidance. McDonald's has characterised the allegations as speculative and says it will defend itself.
For consumers, that distinction is the central issue. The case is not simply about whether artificial intelligence can recommend the price of a Big Mac. It is about whether restaurants expected to make independent pricing decisions continued to compete independently while participating in McDonald's pricing system.
