华盛顿10月5日消息：麦当劳在芝加哥联邦法院面临一项拟议的全国性集体诉讼，指控这家快餐巨头通过人工智能定价系统，在其特许经营店和直营店之间非法协调菜单价格。
WASHINGTON, Oct 5 : McDonald's has been sued in federal court in Chicago in a proposed nationwide class action alleging the fast-food company illegally coordinates menu prices across its franchises and company-owned restaurants through an AI-powered pricing system.
这起于周五提起的诉讼称，麦当劳通过利用基于非公开数据训练的算法与独立加盟商合谋固定价格，违反了美国反垄断法。
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, said McDonald’s violated US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic data.
路透社上周报道称，麦当劳的定价引擎使用机器学习算法，持续分析其近14,000家餐厅每日数百万笔交易的数据。其他快餐公司也在转向人工智能来协助定价和其他运营。诉讼指出：“独立企业必须独立设定其价格。”麦当劳周一在一份声明中称，这些指控纯属猜测且缺乏依据。
Reuters reported last week that McDonald’s pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyze data from millions of daily transactions across its nearly 14,000 restaurants. The lawsuit cited the Reuters article, which said other fast-food companies are also turning to AI to help with pricing and other operations. "Independent businesses must set their prices independently," the lawsuit said. McDonald’s, in a statement on Monday, called the allegations speculative and uninformed.
该公司表示：“人工智能并未设定巨无霸或任何其他菜单项的价格。”并称加盟商自主做出定价决策，定价推荐工具和分析技术的使用在各行各业都十分普遍。
"AI does not set the price of a Big Mac or any other menu item," the company said. It said franchisees make their own pricing decisions, and that the use of pricing recommendation tools and analytics is widespread across industries.
近年来，美国原告提起了多次集体诉讼，指控企业利用算法或人工智能非法协调酒店房间、公寓租金和其他消费品的价格。
US plaintiffs have filed a wave of class actions in recent years alleging that companies used algorithms or AI to illegally coordinate prices for hotel rooms, apartment rentals and other purchases.
原告代理律师拉尔克·特纳（Lark Turner）在一份声明中表示，麦当劳正在“利用其海量数据和特许经营系统，在每一根炸薯条上对消费者进行锱铢必较的剥削。”诉讼称，这名伊利诺伊州居民的原告正寻求代表可能多达数百万的麦当劳消费者发起维权。
Lark Turner, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said in a statement, that McDonald's is "leveraging its troves of data and its franchised system to nickel-and-dime consumers down to the last French fry." The plaintiff, an Illinois resident, is seeking to represent a class of potentially millions of McDonald's customers, the lawsuit said.