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Burger King Pilots ‘Patty’ AI in 500 Restaurants to Coach ‘Friendliness’ and Streamline Operations

Burger King says the OpenAI-based headset tool feeds real-time operational signals to managers without scoring individual workers.

Overview

  • Patty is being tested in roughly 500 U.S. locations as part of the BK Assistant platform, with a full U.S. rollout targeted by the end of 2026.
  • The headset-based voice bot, built on an OpenAI model, detects hospitality keywords such as “welcome,” “please,” and “thank you,” with tone analysis still in development.
  • Integrated with cloud point-of-sale, inventory and equipment data, the system answers workflow questions, flags outages or low stock, and removes unavailable items from menus within about 15 minutes.
  • AI drive-thru ordering is limited to trials in fewer than 100 restaurants as the company takes a cautious approach to full automation.
  • Public and social-media reactions have raised worker-privacy and surveillance concerns that the company says it is addressing as it iterates on the system.