Taco Bell embraces AI at the drive-thru

Yum Brands, which owns the Mexican fast-food chain, has announced plans to expand its Voice AI technology to “hundreds” of stores around the country by the end of the year. And it’s already thinking of a global expansion of AI order-takers.

Right now, more than 100 Taco Bell locations in 13 states rely on AI to take customer orders at the drive-thru. Company officials say that has resulted in improved order accuracy, shorter wait times and higher profits.

“Yum! Brands is integrating digital and technology into all aspects of our business with exciting new capabilities, and AI is a core piece of that strategy,” said Lawrence Kim, chief innovation officer at Yum! Brands in a statement. “With over two years of fine tuning and testing the drive-thru Voice AI technology, we’re confident in its effectiveness in optimizing operations and enhancing customer satisfaction.”

Human workers, the company says, will be freed up to focus on other tasks, ranging from interacting with guests who opt to order from the restaurant counter to preparing food.

Yum! Brands has also started testing Voice AI technology in drive-thrus at five KFC restaurants in Australia.

Taco Bell’s embrace of AI order-taking at the drive-thru comes just over a month after McDonald’s ended its two-year partnership with IBM, which saw it testing AI to take people’s voice orders at drive-thru kiosks. The company had been testing the AI at over 100 restaurants, but said it plans to remove the systems by the end of July.

Despite ending that test (and several TikTok videos showing the AI get the order wrong), McDonald’s says it expects to continue rolling out AI in drive-thrus in the future.

“As we move forward, our work with IBM has given us the confidence that a voice ordering solution for drive-thru will be part of our restaurants’ future,” a spokesperson told Fortune last month. “We see tremendous opportunity in advancing our restaurant technology and will continue to evaluate long-term, scalable solutions that will help us make an informed decision on a future voice ordering solution by the end of the year.”