Starbucks to test AI drive-thru models starting in 2027
CEO Brian Niccol said the chain will also explore personalized digital menus and AI-powered search in its app.
Starbucks will begin testing background AI models at its drive-thrus starting in 2027, CEO Brian Niccol said on an earnings call. The models are intended to help baristas input orders more accurately and efficiently, according to The Verge.
Niccol said the company will also explore experiences that recognize participating customers as they arrive, present personalized digital menus and make payment more effortless. Starbucks further plans to integrate AI into the search and discovery features of its app.
Conversational and agentic ordering may follow in the future, though the company did not give a timeline for those features.
Rivals running similar pilots
Starbucks has already started allowing customers to place orders through ChatGPT. It has also rolled out an AI-powered Green Dot Assist that employees can use to ask questions about recipes and service standards.
Other chains are testing comparable tools. Taco Bell is experimenting with technology that could change the layout, content and visuals on a digital menu board on a car-by-car basis, while McDonald's recently showed off an AI-powered feature it is piloting at a handful of drive-thrus, allowing its ArchIQ chatbot to identify repeat customers and let them order their usual.
Quick answers
When will Starbucks test AI at the drive-thru?
The company said testing of background AI models at the drive-thru will begin in 2027.
What else is Starbucks planning with AI?
Starbucks plans to explore personalized digital menus, customer recognition on arrival, easier payment, AI in its app's search and discovery, and possibly conversational and agentic ordering.