McDonald’s is rolling out its own artificial intelligence system after customers responded positively to trials at selected restaurants.
WASHINGTON — McDonald’s plans to invest $8.5 billion over the next decade to modernize its restaurants around the world.
With fast-food traffic flat in many markets, including the United States, McDonald’s must take market share from rivals and make its restaurants more productive to keep growing, Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said during an investor meeting at the company’s Chicago headquarters. The chain aims to automate more tasks, including inventory management and scheduling, while upgrading kitchen operations.
“The winners will be the companies that create more demand and deliver it more efficiently,” Kempczinski said.
McDonald’s shares dropped nearly 5% Wednesday, Sept. 23—their sharpest one-day percentage decline since April 2025—as investors reacted to the enormous cost of upgrading the chain’s 46,000 restaurants worldwide.
On the menu front, McDonald’s said hand-breaded chicken has lifted sales and quality ratings at 10,000 restaurants in Asia, as well as at a small number of locations near Chicago. The offering puts McDonald’s in closer competition with chains such as Chick-fil-A and KFC, which already sell hand-breaded chicken. The company plans to expand testing into additional U.S. markets and Ireland in 2027.
McDonald’s also plans to bring grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps to the U.S. and other markets. It will test products including egg bites and bowls as it responds to customers looking for more protein and a wider range of portion sizes.
Skye Anderson, president of McDonald’s USA, said about 30 million Americans now use GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and are seeking smaller meals with more protein. Company research, however, shows that 60 million Americans are actively trying to add more protein to their diets.
“This is an opportunity. We need to keep giving them more reasons to make McDonald’s their first choice,” Anderson said at the company’s investor day.
The planned restaurant upgrades include lockers for delivery orders, more prominent coffee-preparation areas to strengthen perceptions of quality, larger play areas and redesigned kitchens. McDonald’s said scales that help verify order accuracy are already operating in 10,000 restaurants globally and will be installed in 20,000 locations by 2028.
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The company is deploying ArchIQ, an artificial intelligence system developed with Google that improves order accuracy and automates tasks such as inventory management and scheduling. Archy, McDonald’s AI-powered drive-thru ordering system, can now take orders in both Spanish and English with a 90% accuracy rate.
Archy could ultimately eliminate at least 50 labor hours a week at a typical McDonald’s, Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said. He emphasized that the goal is not to reduce staffing, but to give employees more time for hospitality and tasks such as hand-breading chicken.
Kempczinski said customers in test markets have responded favorably to Archy because it helps improve order accuracy.
“It’s not AI is bad or AI is good. We try to be really thoughtful about how we use it,” Kempczinski said.
McDonald’s is also introducing new employee training centered on hospitality and food quality, said Tiffanie Boyd, the company’s chief people officer. The more experience-focused program will show employees what a perfectly prepared Big Mac tastes like, for example, while encouraging warmer interactions with customers.
Value remains a central priority. Kempczinski said lower-income consumers—defined as U.S. households earning $45,000 or less—are still visiting fast-food restaurants, but less frequently than before. He said McDonald’s has performed well with meal bundles such as its $5 meal deal, while exploring ways to offer lower entry-level prices on a basic U.S. menu, similar to the approach used in Europe and other markets.
“This is the environment that we’re in right now. You have to be on your game and deliver that value,” Kempczinski said. “The pressure around cost of living isn’t going away.”
McDonald’s U.S. franchisees generally spend as much as $450,000 every decade on required restaurant remodels. Under the new plan, they will be expected to invest an additional $800,000 over time, although McDonald’s will cover part of the expense through rent relief and capital support.
Borden said the upgrades will be introduced gradually, depending on market conditions and individual franchisees’ readiness. After the investments are completed, efficiency gains are expected to generate about $100,000 in annual cash-flow benefits for the average U.S. restaurant, he said. Some of that money can be reinvested in the locations.
“We’d love to see it going into hospitality to elevate the experience with our customers,” Borden said.