Taco Bell expands AI-ordering to hundreds of drive-thrus in the U.S. (2024)

Would you like AI with your meal? Because the next time you go to a Taco Bell drive-thru you might be ordering your Crunchwrap Supreme through a voice-activated chatbot.

On Wednesday, Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, announced that it is expanding its Voice AI technology to hundreds of drive-thru locations in the U.S., with the intention of an eventual global rollout. Previously, the Mexican-inspired fast food chain piloted the AI ordering system in 13 states, and now Taco Bell has deemed it ready for primetime. "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," said Lawrence Kim, Chief Innovation Officer at Yum! Brands in Taco Bell's announcement.

In the generative AI era, businesses are clambering to AI-ify their products. But how customers feel about automated systems is still very much up for debate. Generative AI has proven to be lucrative for some things, but not everything. Just this week, Meta axed its celebrity AI personas after low engagement, and Google's AI search summaries got the wrong kind of attention for recommending users do things like put glue on their pizza. Customer service and sales have used automated systems for years, but talking to AI at the drive-thru is fairly new territory.

The Taco Bell chatbot builds on the restaurant's existing digital ordering kiosk. Now instead of giving your order to a Taco Bell employee, you'll talk to a bot which relays the information on the screen. Taco Bell said it designed Voice AI to take some of the back-of-house work off of staffers' plates. "Benefits include easing task load for team members, improving order accuracy, providing a consistent, friendly experience, and reducing wait times, while driving profitable growth for Taco Bell, Yum! Brands and their franchisees," said the announcement. Taco Bell did not respond to Mashable about whether implementation of Voice AI is mandatory for all franchises at the time of publication.

The company also said it would "elevate the order experience for consumers." But interacting with chatbots doesn't always go smoothly. McDonald's learned that the hard way when it attempted a similar AI-ordering experience. The Golden Arches scrapped its plan in June after numerous failures that quickly went viral on TikTok. In one instance, the McDonald's chatbot mistakenly added 28 orders of Chicken McNuggets.

Wendy's has also jumped on the AI-ordering bandwagon. Although it's been possible to order your Frosty from a chatbot for over a year, many customers are begging Wendy's to make it stop.

Despite failures from its fast food rivals, Taco Bell is charging ahead. KFC, which is also owned by Yum! Brands is also testing Voice AI at five locations in Australia. So, like it or not, AI bots are very much on the menu.

UPDATE: Aug. 2, 2024, 4:23 p.m. EDT A Taco Bell spokesperson provided the following information after this story was published:"The technology enables customers to interact just as they would with a team member, providing a friendly and seamless experience. If needed, a team member can provide assistance quickly. [...] The Voice AI drive thru technology is completely voice-operated, allowing customers to place orders just as they would at a traditional drive thru. [...] We’re in the early stages of testing Voice AI in partnership with operators and franchisees at more than 100 company-owned and franchise restaurants as we prepare for a rollout to hundreds more locations throughout the remainder of the year."