“The restaurants ended up spending more time smoothing over the problem they created,” says Michael Schatzberg, cofounder of Branded Hospitality, which invests in food-service-technology companies. “Everyone was like, ‘This is the worst. Stop. Get the people back with the headsets.’”
Branded Hospitality sold off its early AI-drive-thru investments. In 2024, Del Taco rolled back its AI-drive-thru test. McDonald’s eventually sold McD Tech Labs to IBM and later pulled the plug on the tech altogether.
Not every chain discarded their AI-drive-thru efforts. Many—including Dairy Queen, White Castle, and Taco Bell—continued to quietly expand their tests. AI represented more than new technology. It was the dream at the very core of fast food: making the process of obtaining sustenance faster and faster, while cutting costs further and further.
Four years into the White Castle’s partnership with SoundHound AI, chief marketing officer Jamie Richardson says AI drive-thrus make employee shifts run smoother and speed up service. (Intouch Insight finds that, on average, AI drive-thrus beat the industry by 21 seconds.)
He also says viral AI-drive-thru disasters tend to be overblown. White Castle’s strategy focuses on incremental improvement rather than waiting for an infallible AI agent. “It wasn’t bad at the start,” Richardson says. “It’s gotten so much better as time has gone on.”
Across the fast-food industry, the pendulum seems to be swinging back in the direction of AI-drive-thru adoption. In addition to Taco Bell and Dairy Queen’s planned expansions, McDonald’s announced this summer that it was once again testing AI-powered ordering, this time partnering with Google at five US locations, with a system that takes orders in English and Spanish.
Branded Hospitality recently partnered with Arc, a voice AI-drive-thru company that works with chains including Southern chain Jack’s and chicken chain Pollo Campero. AI drive-thru 1.0 was a flop, Schatzberg says. But now? “Companies have evolved, technology has evolved, and they’re like—we can fix a lot of those problems,” he says.
Some customers remain unconvinced.
When an automated voice began speaking to Schereé Reed at a Wendy’s in Virginia, his dominant emotion was “bewildered,” he says. Reed kept expecting a human to take over; when the voice maintained its distinctly robotic tone, he found himself wondering if he would be served his burger on a conveyor belt.
“I worry a lot about the ways that relying more and more on AI actually removes us from our human connections, like our ability to make community,” Reed tells WIRED.
Certain chains—especially those with a reputation for superior customer service—seem to have the same concerns. Chick-fil-A continually tops Intouch Insight’s ratings for friendliness at the drive-thru, despite its infamously long lines. The chain has never hinted at replacing a human worker with a robot. Coffee shops Dutch Bros and 7Brew, two of the fastest-growing chains in the US, have similarly eschewed AI.
“Every brand has to make choices that fit its business,” Nick Chavez, the chief marketing officer at 7Brew, tells WIRED in an email. “For us, hospitality starts with genuine human connection, and that’s something our guests consistently tell us they value.”