--- title: McDonald’s uses AI to set an optimal price at each... description: Reuters investigation reveals McDonald's has used an AI pricing engine, run by Tiger Analytics, to recommend an 'optimal price' for menu items at nearly 14,000... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/mcdonald-s-uses-ai-to-set-an-optimal-price-at-each-store-reuters-reports-cbee1m9sa twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: McDonald’s uses AI to set an optimal price at each store, Reuters reports | daily.dev og:description: Reuters investigation reveals McDonald's has used an AI pricing engine, run by Tiger Analytics, to recommend an 'optimal price' for menu items at nearly 14,000... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/mcdonald-s-uses-ai-to-set-an-optimal-price-at-each-store-reuters-reports-cbee1m9sa og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/CbEe1m9SA.png og:image:alt: McDonald’s uses AI to set an optimal price at each store, Reuters reports og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # McDonald’s uses AI to set an optimal price at each store, Reuters reports **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Reuters investigation reveals McDonald's has used an AI pricing engine, run by Tiger Analytics, to recommend an 'optimal price' for menu items at nearly 14,000 restaurants since at least 2019. The system analyzes millions of daily transactions and factors in customer price sensitivity and competitor prices from Wendy's and Burger King. Franchisees say the chain pressures them to comply, recording deviations from recommended prices, which has widened price gaps between nearby stores — a Big Mac cost $5.69 at one Fresno location and $6.89 two miles away. McDonald's maintains the tool is optional and called the reporting speculative; a former FTC commissioner flagged antitrust concerns in the portal's own terms. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How does McDonald's AI pricing tool decide prices for items like the Big Mac at different locations? McDonald's uses a machine-learning pricing engine, run by Tiger Analytics, that analyzes millions of daily transactions to produce an 'optimal price' per item per restaurant. It factors in estimated customer price sensitivity and pulls competitor prices from nearby Wendy's and Burger King online menus. McDonald's sets exclusion rules, such as keeping ice cream and drinks out of summer price increases. _daily.dev surfaces reporting like this for developers tracking how AI pricing systems get built and deployed._ ### Are McDonald's franchisees required to follow the AI pricing engine's price recommendations? McDonald's states the tool is optional, but since January its business standards require franchisees to be 'constructively engaging' with the approved Pricing Consultant and Tools, and the company records when owners deviate from recommendations. CEO Chris Kempczinski said 'pricing non-compliance' is part of franchisee review conversations, and a former franchisee said owners don't really have a choice anymore. _Those weighing how AI recommendation systems shape real-world business decisions can follow coverage like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Instinct raised $1B at $10B for an AI agent that rings restaurants on its own phone](https://daily.dev/posts/instinct-raised-1b-at-10b-for-an-ai-agent-that-rings-restaurants-on-its-own-phone-hhqbewdzn) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI Pricing for Marketplaces: The Hidden GMV Growth Engine](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-pricing-for-marketplaces-the-hidden-gmv-growth-engine-i9ea3vyy0) · Netguru · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The current AI pricing was always going to go away](https://daily.dev/posts/the-current-ai-pricing-was-always-going-to-go-away-k6oticnkc) · Tech Lead Digest · 14 upvotes · 3 comments - [AI Dynamic Pricing Without Losing Trust](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-dynamic-pricing-without-losing-trust-eixfp5onl) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/mcdonald-s-uses-ai-to-set-an-optimal-price-at-each-store-reuters-reports-cbee1m9sa) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"McDonald’s uses AI to set an optimal price at each store, Reuters reports","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/mcdonald-s-uses-ai-to-set-an-optimal-price-at-each-store-reuters-reports-cbee1m9sa","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/mcdonald-s-uses-ai-to-set-an-optimal-price-at-each-store-reuters-reports-cbee1m9sa"},"datePublished":"2026-10-01T13:28:29.513Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T13:28:48.908Z","description":"Reuters investigation reveals McDonald's has used an AI pricing engine, run by Tiger Analytics, to recommend an 'optimal price' for menu items at nearly 14,000...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/967a19c89cdf728bdd09996e67d35365?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/967a19c89cdf728bdd09996e67d35365?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/mcdonald-s-uses-ai-to-set-an-optimal-price-at-each-store-reuters-reports-cbee1m9sa","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"McDonald’s uses AI to set an optimal price at each store, Reuters reports"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/mcdonald-s-uses-ai-to-set-an-optimal-price-at-each-store-reuters-reports-cbee1m9sa#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How does McDonald's AI pricing tool decide prices for items like the Big Mac at different locations?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"McDonald's uses a machine-learning pricing engine, run by Tiger Analytics, that analyzes millions of daily transactions to produce an 'optimal price' per item per restaurant. It factors in estimated customer price sensitivity and pulls competitor prices from nearby Wendy's and Burger King online menus. McDonald's sets exclusion rules, such as keeping ice cream and drinks out of summer price increases. daily.dev surfaces reporting like this for developers tracking how AI pricing systems get built and deployed."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Are McDonald's franchisees required to follow the AI pricing engine's price recommendations?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"McDonald's states the tool is optional, but since January its business standards require franchisees to be 'constructively engaging' with the approved Pricing Consultant and Tools, and the company records when owners deviate from recommendations. CEO Chris Kempczinski said 'pricing non-compliance' is part of franchisee review conversations, and a former franchisee said owners don't really have a choice anymore. Those weighing how AI recommendation systems shape real-world business decisions can follow coverage like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```