Taco Bell is hoping artificial intelligence can understand “Crunchwrap Supreme” better than “Big Mac.” On July 31, the fast food chain’s parent company, Yum! Brands, announced it is now testing “Voice AI technology” at over 100 Taco Bell drive-thru locations across 13 states in an attempt to “enhance back-of-house operations for team members and elevate the order experience for consumers.”
“Innovation is ingrained in our DNA at Taco Bell,” the Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Taco purveyor’s Chief Digital & Technology Officer Dane Mathews said in a statement on Wednesday. Mathews claimed leveraging artificial intelligence will also “ease team members’ workloads” while “freeing them to focus on front-of-house hospitality… [and] unlock new and meaningful ways to engage with our customers. He stopped short of elaborating further on the new engagement opportunities.
[Related: Watch Chipotle’s latest robot prototype plunk ingredients into a burrito bowl.]
Taco Bell’s AI era arrives barely a month after news broke that McDonald’s ended a multiyear IBM partnership which involved testing its own AI voice recognition drive-thru system. Shortly after launching the program, viral clips almost immediately began circulating on social media that showed it mistakenly misinterpreting customer orders, resulting in receipts for 260 McNuggets, nine iced teas, and bacon-topped ice cream.
After over two years of rampant industry hype, critical and public opinions have quickly cooled on the rapid integration of AI systems like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot into everyday digital ecosystems. Labor advocates have vocally warned against such technology’s impact on human workers—CEOs across multiple companies have already cited AI as a factor behind employee layoffs.
Speaking with CNN on Wednesday, however, Yum! Brand’s Chief Innovation Officer Lawrence Kim claimed Taco Bell’s Voice AI will “not replace any team members, but instead “enhance the team member experience so they can focus on other tasks that are a priority for them.”
Voice AI isn’t Yum! Brand’s first automated pilot project across its suite of fast food chains that also includes KFC, Pizza Hut, and The Habit Burger Grill. Earlier this year, Yum’s own Chief Digital & Technology Officer Joe Park declared an “AI-first mentality” at the company, whose restaurant manager-focused SuperApp already incorporates generative chat capabilities. Yum isn’t alone, either—competitors like Chipotle are also testing AI-guided burrito workstations and avocado-pitting robots.
Yum, which also owns KFC, also announced on Wednesday that its Voice AI is currently being tested at five fried chicken spots in Australia. In April, KFC released an ad campaign mocking generative AI’s ongoing issues with human hand anatomy.