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Fast-food chain Wendy's has announced that it is testing Spanish-language AI capabilities in the drive-thrus of 28 of its company-operated restaurants in Florida and Ohio in an effort to better appeal to a diverse customer base.
Wendy's FreshAI Spanish language feature, while still in early testing, is helping the burger chain “better serve Spanish-speaking customers through technology,” the Dublin, Ohio-based company said in a news release.
To begin an order in Spanish, customers simply say “Spanish” or “Español” into Wendy's Fresh AI microphone, which will activate the new pilot language. The system will then speak and process the entire order in Spanish, according to Wendy's.
“At Wendy's, we're employing generative AI in our drive-thru to support Wendy's associates while evolving our technology to meet the needs of our customers,” said Matt Spessard, CIO of Wendy's. “We're inspired by our partnership with Google Cloud to move this technology forward with new Spanish language capabilities designed to expand access and reimagine the drive-thru experience for current and future Wendy's fans.”
McDonald's ends AI drive-thru experiment 03:37
The company, known for its square burgers and frosty desserts, began testing AI-based order-taking at a drive-thru in Columbus, Ohio, in June 2023.
Taco Bell will expand the use of its voice-AI technology to hundreds of the Mexican restaurant chain's drive-thru locations by the end of the year, parent company Yum Brands announced late last month.
But not all fast-food restaurants are adopting artificial intelligence for drive-thru order-taking, as the technology has had mixed results at McDonald's. In June, the Golden Arches said it was halting a test of automated order-taking machines that use AI to expedite orders at its drive-thrus in about 100 restaurants across the U.S.
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