McDonald’s is testing Archy, an AI voice assistant designed to take drive-thru orders in English and Spanish. The company says the system has an accuracy rate above 90% and could free up at least 50 hours of work per restaurant each week, shifting staff time toward order preparation, customer interaction and other tasks.
The assistant is part of McDonald’s Next strategy, unveiled on September 23, 2026, to modernize restaurant operations and customer service. Early customer feedback has been positive, according to Bloomberg, but Archy remains in testing and McDonald’s has not set a timetable for a broader rollout.
- Archy, the bilingual AI system for taking drive-thru orders.
- Bluetooth tags intended to provide real-time inventory tracking.
- A smart scale designed to check prepared orders and flag potential mistakes before food reaches customers.
McDonald’s has earmarked about $8.5 billion for the wider Next program, including franchisee support, restaurant modernization, product improvements and employee training. The investment covers the overall transformation effort rather than Archy alone.
The initiative arrives as McDonald’s shares fell 4.8% on September 23 to their lowest level since October 2022. Key open questions include how reliably Archy can handle complex or modified orders and conversations in noisy drive-thru environments. McDonald’s has also not said whether the technology will affect staffing levels.
