The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Chicago, alleges that McDonald's violated U.S. antitrust laws by using algorithms trained on non-public sales data to determine suggested prices. The plaintiffs argue that independent businesses should be able to determine their own prices.
The controversy stems from the sheer scale of data the system has access to. According to a Reuters investigation, the pricing tool uses machine learning algorithms to analyze millions of transactions daily at nearly 14,000 McDonald's restaurants, then suggests appropriate prices for each location.
The legal issue lies in the line between an advisory tool and a mechanism that could reduce price competition among independently operated stores. The lawsuit alleges that sharing data and using common algorithms could cause franchisees to act like a coordinated pricing system.
McDonald's rejects this interpretation. Reuters quoted the company as saying: " Artificial intelligence does not determine the price of a Big Mac or any other item on the menu."
McDonald's maintains that franchise owners still determine pricing themselves, and that the analytics and pricing recommendation tools used are common in many industries.
Speaking to Reuters, the plaintiff's lawyer, Lark Turner, said McDonald's is leveraging its large data sets and franchise system to fleece consumers.
This dispute goes beyond the story of the price of a hamburger. In recent years, numerous lawsuits in the US have accused businesses of using algorithms to manipulate the prices of hotel rooms, rental properties, and other goods.
Synthetic
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/mcdonald-s-bi-kien-vi-dung-ai-thao-tung-gia-thuc-don-1759796.html
