LOS ANGELES, October 9, 2026 – Every time that Michael Thomas would arrive at the local drive-thru in DeKalb County, Illinois, he would order his staple meal of a Quarter Pounder with cheese, French fries, and Coke. However, those ordinary meals of fast food have now become a subject of federal antitrust litigation.
The man filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s last Friday, claiming that the fast food giant was using artificial intelligence pricing algorithms to increase prices for menu items for millions of consumers in the U.S. McDonald’s strongly denies the allegations and states that franchise owners, not the algorithm, set the prices.
According to Thomas’s attorneys, the system constitutes algorithmic price coordination. It’s alleged that McDonald’s, using its market power over the franchisees operating about 95 percent of its 14,000 stores across the country, convinces or coerces the franchisees to adopt the suggested prices and not decide their own.
Instead of letting individual stores compete on price, the lawsuit claims the system functions as illegal algorithmic price coordination.
And this matters because everyday consumers are already feeling squeezed at the register.
McDonald’s denies the accusation. According to the company’s statement, the lawsuit is “full of inaccuracies,” and the company will defend its rights.
“AI doesn’t set menu prices at McDonald’s restaurants – McDonald’s franchisees do,” the company stated. It also noted that there are optional tools that help the franchisees set their prices.
This distinction is the crux of the matter. Thomas claims that these suggestions are so important they practically fix prices, whereas the corporation’s management sees them as advisory analysis. The actual pressure put on franchisees by the corporation to accept such prices may play an important part in the verdict.
While the lawsuit is not over yet, the stakes are quite high for the entire fast food industry. Should the court decide that the recommendations provided by algorithms constitute price-fixing, this will change how the software of big chains works across the country. Otherwise, the company will set up a precedent for itself.
