McDonald's AI Drive-Thru, 'ArchAI,' Could Be Ready Soon. Here's How It Works
With AI affecting all corners of life, it's not surprising that it may be used to revolutionize fast-food delivery. And so comes the news that McDonald's is testing an AI drive-thru, but how would it work?
According to Restaurant Business Magazine, McDonald's "is testing voice activated order" in collaboration with Google. The fast-food giant unveiled the strategy at a convention, revealing that the drive-thru voicebot will be called Archie, according to the magazine, which reports that McDonald's first started testing AI in ordering back in 2021. Restaurant Business Magazine noted that AI "always suggestive sells" and thus increases sales. It also replaces a task done by a human employee, so it's been a goal of many chains in the restaurant industry.
The AI initiative is part of a sweeping new strategy by McDonald's called McDonald's Next, according to Fox Business.
A Page for a Franchise Explained That the AI Is Already Being Used in 5 Test Stores
Meet Archy IQ - no, we are not new to AOT. In fact, we have been in this AI field for about 8 years. We sold our in-house model to IBM and moved on as it wasn't good enough for our needs.
— McFranchisee (@McFranchisee) June 3, 2026
As mentioned below, I wanted to hire Google (who uses NVIDIA) to service our AOT 3 years… https://t.co/JR8QHQNyKJpic.twitter.com/e0syxiQwre
McFranchisee, which is an X account for a McDonald's franchise, explained the process along with a video tutorial. "Meet Archy IQ - no, we are not new to AOT. In fact, we have been in this AI field for about 8 years," the post says. "We sold our in-house model to IBM and moved on as it wasn't good enough for our needs."
The page continued, "I wanted to hire Google (who uses NVIDIA) to service our AOT 3 years ago and found out today that Google is behind this project. We are currently in 5 test stores, having processed over 1M transactions with about 90% of orders completed without human escalations."
Added McFranchisee: "Impressive for a new test Every McDonald's in the US is getting their Google Edge Cloud blades installed in anticipation of this rollout. Archy will not only assist drive-thru orders but act as a master brain to help managers run a better restaurant. It's like a personal assistant that alerts you to potential bottlenecks or issues."
Using AI in a Drive-Thru Has Challenges in a Restaurant Chain as Large as McDonald's
According to Restaurant Business Magazine, because McDonald's has more than 13,000 locations, using AI in its drive thru is challenging. The chain has to navigate "different dialects and ordering styles."
The magazine noted that Taco Bell had a situation where a man ordered 18,000 waters.
Restaurant Business Magazine's writer urged the chain to proceed slowly with AI, indicating customer skepticism of it, especially if it starts replacing more jobs.
Indeed, people were skeptical in X reaction. "Idk if anyone is gonna drive up to a AI powered drive through window and ask for their 'regular.' That's highly optimistic," wrote one person.
"Just so your company, McDonald's, and anyone reading this understand: We all hate the system installed at Wendy's. We hate the kiosks at McDonald's, Wendy's, and Taco Bell that we are asked to use instead of talking to a person. We will hate this too. Say goodbye to customers," added another person.
"No one wants this - we like dealing with smiling faces," concluded another writer.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 8:48 AM.