McDonald's bets $8.5 billion on AI drive-thrus — even though they get more orders wrong than humans. So why is it rolling out Archy?

“Archy is basically like another employee to us,” one McDonald’s worker featured during the company’s Investor Day presentation said.

McDonald’s has already taken one bite at AI ordering. In 2024, the company ended an earlier drive-thru experiment with IBM called Automated Order Taker after testing it at more than 100 restaurants. The technology struggled at times to understand customers and get their orders right.

Now, McDonald’s is going back for seconds and betting its newest AI tool can do a better job and convince you to add the fries.

Meet Archy, the automated McDonald’s employee

McDonald’s says Archy is already performing better than those early tests. The company told Moneywise Archy is already taking real drive-thru orders in English and Spanish and getting them right more than 90% of the time.

The company described the test as part of its long-standing “test-and-learn” approach. The idea is that, with AI handling tasks like order-taking and several systems working together behind the scenes, employees can spend more time helping customers while restaurants run more smoothly.

That would be a meaningful change in a part of the fast-food business where AI implementation is minimal. A 2025 Intouch Insight study of AI-powered drive-thru visits found the technology got orders right 83% of the time, compared with 87% across the study overall. AI was faster, shaving about 21 seconds off service times on average, but customers were also more likely to have to repeat themselves.

McDonald’s says Archy is already performing better than that. The company has also said customer satisfaction at restaurants testing the system is running above national trends.

Archy is part of a much larger system called ArchIQ. Think of Archy as the voice taking your order, while ArchIQ is doing more of the work behind the counter. The company claims the system can help restaurants track inventory, build employee schedules and even use scales to catch missing items before an order reaches the customer.

McDonald’s has been working with Google since 2023 on the technology behind that system, with a broader U.S. rollout expected in 2027.

A much bigger makeover

Archy may be getting the attention, but McDonald’s big plan stretches beyond the drive-thru.

The investment comes at a tricky time for fast food. Years of higher prices have made customers more selective about eating out, and CEO Chris Kempczinski has said McDonald’s expects inflation and relatively flat restaurant traffic to remain part of the picture.

The broader strategy, called McDonald’s > NEXT, goes beyond changing the voice taking your order.

As Moneywise reported earlier, McDonald’s is also rethinking its menu as customers look for more protein, smaller portions and meals that don’t leave them feeling like they need a nap afterward.

The restaurants are getting a makeover, too. McDonald’s requires franchisees to remodel locations roughly once a decade, and its newest designs are expected to include updated PlayPlaces, more open kitchens and a better view of McCafe drinks being made.