On Sept. 23, McDonald’s committed $8.5 billion through 2036 to AI, restaurant upgrades and operational changes, including ArchIQ, its drive-thru ordering system. The plan aims to generate about $100,000 a year in cash-flow benefits for the average U.S. franchisee.
The plan allocates about $5 billion through 2030 and the remaining $3.5 billion through 2036, or roughly $1.25 billion annually for the first four years. ArchIQ began rolling out at select locations earlier in 2026; McDonald’s developed it in-house on a unified technology platform it has spent six years building.
McDonald’s discontinued its earlier AI-ordering project with IBM in June 2024 amid reliability challenges. In Q2 fiscal 2026, McDonald’s U.S. comparable sales grew 0.8%, while Burger King’s comparable sales rose 8.5%. McDonald’s shares fell 4.8% on the day of the announcement, according to Yahoo Finance.
