CHICAGO — A lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s in federal court in Chicago on October 2, 2026. The complaint alleges that the fast-food giant violated U.S. antitrust laws by using an artificial intelligence tool to coordinate menu prices across its network of independent franchises.

The suit is proposed as a nationwide class-action brought by Michael Thomas, a resident of DeKalb, Illinois. The lawsuit seeks to represent a class of potentially millions of McDonald’s customers, as stated in the filing.

The complaint alleges that the AI tool allows independently owned franchises to exchange nonpublic price and sales data. The lawsuit states: "McDonald’s has built and for years deployed its own information-sharing pricing platform, which draws on data from its millions of daily transactions to set menu prices across thousands of US restaurants." The filing further asserts: "The result is algorithmic price-fixing aimed at customers who are already stretched thin." Thomas described the situation in the court documents, stating: "This case is about McDonald’s bringing ‘optimization’ to America’s largest fast food chain." The lawsuit said McDonald’s violated US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic data.

McDonald’s operates nearly 14,000 restaurants in the U.S., with 95% owned by independent franchisees. In response to the legal action, a McDonald’s spokesperson said the "complaint is filled with inaccuracies and we will vigorously defend against this lawsuit." The company maintained that "AI does not set menu prices at McDonald’s restaurants – McDonald’s franchisees do." A McDonald’s spokesperson added: "Optional tools are available to franchisees to help them make the best decisions for their businesses and customers, but these tools do not automate, coordinate or fix pricing in any way." McDonald’s stated in an October 1, 2026 statement that it does not use dynamic pricing and described its pricing tool as providing information that franchises are free to decide whether to adopt.

An internal communication sent to franchisees in January stated that McDonald’s started requiring franchisees to be "constructively engaging with McDonald’s approved Pricing Consultant and Tools" as part of new business standards. A September check of prices on the McDonald’s mobile app showed a company-run store in Fresno, California selling a Big Mac for $5.69, while another company-run restaurant two miles away sold the same sandwich for $6.89.

According to a McDonald’s fact sheet published in 2024, the average price of a McDonald’s menu item increased about 40% between 2019 and 2024. McDonald’s acquired the AI company Dynamic Yield in 2019.

McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said in August that only 60% of its U.S. restaurants were offering McDonald's proposed menu of 10 items for under $3. He said: "As you know, in our system, that's not something that we just flip the switch on. It requires conversations with franchisees." In a 2026 earnings call, Kempczinski noted that only 60% to 65% of operators followed pricing recommendations on a $3 and Under menu.

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Michael Thomas, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, is a DeKalb, Illinois resident who frequently visits McDonald's and orders a Quarter Pounder with cheese, french fries, and a Coke. A McDonald’s spokesman said: "All we do is provide the context of what's going on. We don't have any way to affect the menu pricing in a restaurant." a investigation found that some franchisees reported pressure from McDonald’s to use AI pricing tools and document deviations from recommended prices.