In 2025, Wendy’s is shaking up its drive-thrus, and fans have plenty to say. By the end of the year, the fast food giant will use AI for taking drive-thru orders at many of its almost 6,000 U.S. locations, as revealed by CEO Kirk Tanner during the company’s earnings call on February 13th. Currently, about 100 Wendy’s locations use the AI voice assistant, which started testing in 2023.
The plan is to expand this to 500-600 locations by year’s end, according to Tanner. Named FreshAI, the assistant is a project with Google Cloud. Tanner personally tests it weekly at a Wendy’s near the company’s Dublin, Ohio headquarters. News of FreshAI’s rollout sparked mixed reactions from Wendy’s customers—some were excited, while others expressed skepticism and recounted frustrating experiences with similar technology.
Wendy’s Introduces AI-Powered Drive-Thru, Sparking Debate Among Customers
The Wendy's CEO mentioned that the AI assistant's accuracy, which has been an issue for other restaurants using AI for orders, "definitely is improving." If the launch of the voice assistant is successful this year, Wendy's may roll it out across all locations, Tanner said during the earnings call earlier this month. He explained: "It's got a bright future and we're moving forward."
In the "r/Wendys" subreddit, numerous fans shared their various thoughts on the news. "The day I pull up and there is no human interaction is the day I order 10 meal ‘deals,’ drive off and never return," one commented as another added: "Welp time to not eat at Wendys anymore."
An additional user chimed in, slamming the AI "overtakers" as "garbage" and sharing that they "get the order wrong so often I've had to have [an] employee start taking my order instead."
More Wendy's customers on Reddit want the chain to lower prices and improve quality, while some are excited about the voice assistant spreading to more locations. "Once the tech is better, this should be a good thing," one believed.
Another wrote that AI assistants "don't shovel three promotions that you have to decline down your throat either while you're just tryna get a biggie bag." They went on: "I hate to say it but my experience with these so far has been faster and always correct." The user also shared: "Sad to say this but AI drive-thru is way better than with real people."
