Wendy's to test AI chatbot at Ohio drive-thru

The bot will integrate with the store's hardware and cash register systems to process orders.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A fast food chain is teaming up with Google to add artificial intelligence to its menu.

Wendy's is planning to launch an AI chatbot to automate its restaurants' drive-thrus, a representative for the company told Nexstar's WCMH on Tuesday. Dubbed FreshAI, the AI tech will hold limited conversations with customers, handling their food orders and answering frequently asked questions. The bot will integrate with the store's hardware and cash register systems for processing orders.

The burger chain, founded in Columbus in 1969, tapped Google to power FreshAI with its existing cloud-based generative AI and large language models. The language models include the restaurant's menu as data, and will allow the drive-thru chatbot to understand complex, customized or indirect orders, as well as discern between a customer's voice and background noise, Wendy's said.

"For example, if someone in the drive-thru asks for a large milkshake, we'll automatically know to make it a large Frosty," a company spokeswoman said.

Wendy's will test FreshAI at one of its corporate-owned Columbus storefronts in June, though it did not specify which one as of Wednesday. It also did not mention if the chatbot would ultimately result in fewer workers at restaurant locations.

“Google Cloud’s generative AI technology … allows our employees to continue focusing on making great food and building relationships with fans that keep them coming back time and again," Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor said.

Google had first partnered with Wendy's in 2021, when the two companies announced they would work together to improve customer experiences with analytics and machine learning.