Google might take your next Wendy’s drive-thru order.
The burger giant on Tuesday announced an expanded partnership with Google Cloud to use the company’s artificial intelligence technology in its drive-thrus.
The two companies will start testing use of Google Cloud’s generative AI and large language models technology at company-operated restaurants in the Columbus, Ohio, market starting in June.
The effort, called Wendy's FreshAi, will include Google Cloud’s technology, such as Vertex AI, which can have conversations with customers, understand their customization requests and generate responses to frequently asked questions. The goal, the companies said, is to improve the drive-thru experience.
The technology “creates a huge opportunity for us to deliver a truly differentiated, faster and frictionless experience for our customers and allows our employees to continue focusing on making great food and building relationships with fans,” Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor said in a statement.
A growing number of fast-food chains have been testing or implementing drive-thrus using artificial intelligence to take orders. Checkers & Rally’s rolled out its technology last year, for instance. The burger chain Krystal has been working on AI and, more recently, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. announced plans to add the technology to their drive-thrus.
Not everybody believes the technology is quite ready for prime time, however. McDonald’s, for instance, has tested drive-thru AI for years but has yet to pull the trigger, at least in part because of concerns about accuracy.
Restaurants are hopeful that using AI in the drive-thru can ease the amount of labor required to operate a restaurant at any one time, though it is unclear whether the technology in fact cuts back on labor costs—though it’s notable that the most aggressive companies when it comes to AI have had sales and profitability challenges.
Still, the drive-thru has become the source of a massive amount of overall innovation as they’ve become even more popular post-pandemic. About 80% of Wendy’s orders come through that channel.
Google’s technology will have data from Wendy’s menu, business rules and will integrate with the restaurant’s hardware and point-of-sale system. “Generative AI is fundamentally changing how people interact with brands, and we anticipate Wendy’s integration of Google Cloud’s AI technology will set a new standard for great drive-thru experiences for the quick-service industry,” Thomas Kurian, CEO at Google Cloud, said in a statement.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.