Overview
- A proposed class action filed Monday, June 22 in federal court in Sacramento accuses Kalibrate and dozens of retailers, including BP, Walmart, 7‑Eleven, Marathon/ARCO, Circle K and Albertsons, of using a common AI pricing platform to coordinate higher gasoline prices.
- The complaint says Kalibrate’s tool collects competitively sensitive cost and volume data, offers a ‘restoration’ feature that can trigger near‑simultaneous market‑wide price hikes, and in some markets raised prices by roughly 22–30 cents per gallon.
- Plaintiffs seek unspecified damages for California drivers and an injunction under the Cartwright Act and AB 325 to stop use of the alleged pricing practices, saying each extra cent adds about $134 million in costs to state motorists annually.
- Defendants have largely declined to comment or said they are reviewing the complaint, and the filing follows reports that state regulators issued subpoenas in May as part of broader scrutiny of high pump prices.
- The case sits against a legal backdrop shaped by earlier algorithmic‑pricing litigation and government action, and its outcome could set precedent on how courts and regulators limit AI tools that share competitor data to set prices.