McDonald's Announces Major Change for All Restaurants in 2026

Over the past several months, businesses across the country have begun embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to varying degrees. Now, it sounds like McDonald's is hopping on that trend.

As McDonald's continues to push toward efficiency in serving its customers, it sounds like the fast food chain is looking to embrace AI to make that happen and to make things easier for both employees and customers.

McDonald's Embraces AI

As McDonald's continues to seek new ways to best serve its customers, the fast food giant is moving forward with using AI to improve efficiency, order accuracy, drive-thru experience, and employee productivity.

“We’ve got a number of teams looking at how we can use AI to deliver an even better experience for our customers and for our crew members,” Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald’s, told Technology Magazine during a recent interview.

The outlet reports that McDonald’s has actually been working with Google Cloud since 2023 to integrate its hardware and AI applications across restaurants globally.

How AI Will Help

During a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, McDonald's CIO Brian Rice opened up a bit about how the company will use AI to help solve some problems in the ever-changing fast-food environment.

“Our restaurants, frankly, can be very stressful,” he said during the interview. “We have customers at the counter, we have customers at our drive-through, couriers coming in for delivery at curbside.

“That's a lot to deal with for our crew,” Rice said. “Technology solutions will alleviate the stress.”

The company is making several changes to use AI to serve customers, moving forward with voice AI technology in its drive-throughs and kiosks. Additionally, McDonald's is embracing computer vision, which will use in-store cameras to verify the accuracy of orders before they reach the customer.

However, AI won't just be used to serve customers directly; it will also be used behind the scenes, as well, equipping vital kitchen appliances, such as fryers and McFlurry machines, with sensors that will notify staff about potential equipment failures before they happen.

“If we can proactively address those issues before they occur, that's going to mean smoother operations in the future,” Rice said.

Clearly, McDonald's is optimistic about these upcoming changes.