McDonald’s trial run testing artificial intelligence for its drive-through is ending.  Reportedly – the company told franchisees, that it is “ending” its chatbot experiment with IBM “no later than July 26th.”

The technology will be removed from more than 100 restaurants – BUT – the company isn’t ruling out bringing it back in another form – saying “A voice-ordering solution for drive-through will be part of our restaurants’ future – and while there HAVE BEEN successes to date, we feel there is an opportunity to explore voice ordering solutions more broadly,”

Mason Smoot, Chief Restaurant Officer for McDonald’s USA, said that – in a message sent to franchisees “After a thoughtful review, McDonald’s has decided to end our present partnership with IBM – on ‘Automated Order Taking’ and the technology will be shut off in all restaurants testing it.”

McDonald’s has been testing “Drive-Thru Voice” plans since 2021.