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What just happened? AI has become a commonplace technology, even at fast-food outlets. Thanks to a partnership formed between Nvidia, Yum! Brands, the owner of Taco Bell KFC and Pizza Hut is accelerating AI adoption in these restaurants – and not just at drive-thru.
Yum! announced during the Nvidia GTC Conference. Brands’ strategic partnership with Nvidia aims to deploy multiple AI solutions utilizing the company’s hardware at 500 restaurants including Pizza Hut Taco Bell KFC and Habit Burger and Grill starting in the second half of 2025. Yum has already piloted Nvidia technology in some Pizza Hut locations and Taco Bell.
Fast-food chains have been testing AI for drive-thru ordering for some time now. Wendy’s announced a trial in 2023 of a chatbot made possible by a partnership between Google and one of its restaurants located in Ohio. Byte by Yum will harness Team Green’s technology as part of Yum’s partnership with Nvidia the first time that a tech giant has partnered with a restaurant.is Yum’s proprietary digital AI-driven technology platform for restaurants. The company hopes to create new, more advanced AI voice order agents in less than four months.
Yum will use AI in more than just taking orders. One example is the use of computer vision software to analyze traffic at drive-thrus so that AI can optimize speed through alerts and staffing. Joe Park, chief technology and digital officer at Yum! Brands told Business Insider, that when the drive-thru is busy, the AI may suggest selling items that are more quickly sold instead of items that take longer to sell.
Yum reports that its AI agents will also be deployed in call centres to handle phone orders during times of high demand, such as on game days.
Nvidia’s AI hardware will be used to analyze restaurant performance metrics to generate customized management recommendations. This will identify what top-performing restaurants do differently.
Partnerships between restaurant companies and tech firms are not always successful. McDonald’s announced in June 2024 that it would be ending its two-year drive-thru automated order taking (AOT), and partnership with IBM. The system was installed in 100 locations but there are many videos of customers complaining that it is not working correctly. McDonald’s said, however, that it was confident voice AI would become a part of the chain’s future.
Yum’s announcement, as expected, did not mention the potential impact that the partnership and additional AI agents could have on human job opportunities. It only stated it would “assist and enhance the team member experience.”
