The fast food industry has spent decades trying to make ordering a burger faster. Digital menus, mobile apps, self-service kiosks—you name it. Now, artificial intelligence wants a turn at the drive-thru speaker. But at Chick-fil-A, the familiar “my pleasure” still needs to come from a human.

While McDonald’s is testing AI-powered voice ordering at its drive-thrus, Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy says his restaurants won’t follow suit. The chicken chain isn’t rejecting AI altogether, but it believes some parts of the fast food experience are better left to humans, even if technology could make them more efficient.

McDonald’s is also defending a different kind of algorithm in court. A new lawsuit alleges its pricing-recommendation system helped coordinate higher menu prices—a claim the company denies. The two technologies are separate, but both put a spotlight on how much control restaurants are willing to hand over to AI—and how much responsibility remains with the people using it.

Chick-fil-A calls its approach to technology “human plus.” The company is exploring AI behind the scenes but won’t use it to replace drive-thru order-takers, Cathy told CNBC. 

“We’re not gonna substitute that interaction with technology, because we feel like that hospitality is so important to create that warm environment for consumers,” he said.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://www.fortune.com/2026/10/09/chick-fil-a-mcdonalds-ai-drive-thru-ordering-pricing-lawsuit/?utm_source=reddit/

If Starbucks bought Chipotle Mexican Grill, a possibility the Financial Times reported this week was being explored by the coffee giant, it would be the largest purchase of one restaurant chain by another ever in the U.S.

It would also almost certainly be one of the biggest missteps, given the limited synergies between the two brands, the size of the deal, and the potential distraction as Starbucks brass works on its turnaround. 

Chipotle investors initially reacted well to the report, with shares rising as much as 8% on Thursday after the report was published. They are now back down to roughly where they were before the article.

It’s easy to understand their enthusiasm: Starbucks’ Brian Niccol is the star CEO who knows Chipotle intimately after turning it around in his six years leading the burrito chain, before leaving in 2024 to fix Starbucks. On his watch, Niccol led Chipotle out of a food safety crisis; improved its restaurants and operations; built a leading app; and ultimately helped Chipotle double annual sales to $10 billion.

Starbucks investors reacted rather differently to the report, sending shares down on fears a transaction like that would be a big distraction, even for a CEO as well regarded as Niccol who is being credited with getting Starbucks out of a long slump and back to growth and in the good graces of its customers. 

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://www.fortune.com/2026/10/09/chipotle-starbucks-niccol-stock/?utm_source=reddit/

Saw this at the library this morning. Thought I'd share here, if anybody wants to track food recalls

China, Japan, Russia all rejected the tons of beef trump bragged he made a deal for the US. Where is that beef,did they just slip it into our food chain?