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Saturday, August 30, 2025
On August 29, international fast food chain Taco Bell announced it would be abrogating its artificial intelligence-powered drive-thrus due to technical difficulties and “trolling,” including one instance where a customer ordered 18,000 waters.
According to reports, the AI would erroneously tell customers that the store was out of all ingredients except for soda and sauce packets. There were also reports of the AI bots simply disallowing customers to modify their orders, such as replacing meat with beans.
The phenomenon became an internet meme. One video on TikTok appeared to show a customer attempting to order McDonald’s food items from Taco Bell, which was allowed by the system.
Dane Mathews, the chain’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer, told the Wall Street Journal: “We’re learning a lot, I’m going to be honest with you. […] I can tell you it’s a very active conversation inside Taco Bell in partnership with our franchisees. I think at the end of the day, it’s really, really early. And we feel that. And I think other brands feel that, too.”
Other fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s have began incorporating AI into their daily operations as well. Taco Bell has stated that it seeks to address the situation with a “hybrid approach.”
- [1] — e.g. December 31, 1999
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- [3] — e.g. December 31, 1999
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- [5] — e.g. December 31, 1999
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- [7] — e.g. December 31, 1999
- [8] — The Independent, August 30, 2025
