Oct 28, 2021 11:12:00

McDonald's partner with IBM to automate drive-through

by

mcchronicles

It turns out that McDonald's has entered into a strategic partnership with IBM to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology that automates drive-through lanes. As part of the deal, IBM will acquire McDonald's technology-focused McD Tech Labs.

Joint Statement from McDonald's and IBM
https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/en-us/our-stories/article/press-releases.IBM-McD-Tech-Labs.html

Joint Statement from McDonald's and IBM
https://newsroom.ibm.com/Joint-Statement-from-McDonalds-and-IBM

McDonald's enters strategic partnership with IBM to automate drive-thru lanes
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/27/mcdonalds-enters-strategic-partnership-with-ibm-to-automate-drive-thru-lanes.html

In 2019, McDonald's acquired machine learning startupDynamic Yield and voice recognition AI startup Apprente to streamline drive-through.

McDonald's Acquires Speech Recognition AI Startup for Drive-Through Efficiency? --GIGAZINE

While Dynamic Yield remains an independent company under McDonald's, Apprente is completely absorbed by McDonald's, and Apprente employees are part of a newly established McD Tech Labs integrated team within McDonald's. have become. Apprente's technology is to recognize drive-through orders by AI, and in June 2021 experiments were conducted in several cities in the United States, and it is reported that the accuracy was 85%. .. It is expected that it will take about two years to implement the technology, but in the end, 80% of all orders could be processed by AI.

With this partnership between McDonald's and IBM, McD Tech Labs has been acquired by IBM. The details of the contract and financial terms have not been disclosed. Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald's, commented, 'IBM is an expert in AI-driven customer care solutions and voice recognition and believes it is McDonald's ideal partner.'

by Robert Couse-Baker

'McDonald's is working on digital, delivery and drive-through innovation as part of its strategic growth plan, Accelerating the Arches,' IBM said in a statement. McDonald's said the agreement will provide a convenient and unique experience. Efforts will accelerate. '

The acquisition is expected to be completed in December 2021. On the afternoon of Wednesday, 27th, when McDonald's announced its third-quarter earnings and partnership with IBM, McDonald's share price rose more than 2%.