mcdonald's drive-thru ai upgrade causes chaos as bots start serving happy meals to wrong cars
A viral video circulating on social media claims that McDonald’s new AI drive-thru system, designed to speed up orders, went haywire at a location in Ohio, serving Happy Meals to the wrong vehicles and repeatedly asking a customer if they wanted “fries with that” 14 times. The footage, which has amassed over 2 million views on TikTok, shows a frantic employee manually overriding the system while a confused driver yells, “I ordered a McFlurry, not a salad!”
Is this real? Not exactly. Our fact-check reveals that McDonald’s did roll out a limited AI drive-thru test in 2023 using IBM technology, but it was discontinued in 2024 due to customer complaints about order errors. The viral video is from a staged comedy account known for parodying fast food mishaps, not an actual restaurant failure. McDonald’s confirmed no such event occurred in Ohio. The rumor is fake—a humorous exaggeration of past AI flaws, not a current upgrade gone wrong.