McDonald's2026-09-30 11:19:32McDonald’s uses AI pricing engine to adjust menu prices by willingness to payMcDonald’s is using an artificial intelligence pricing engine to dynamically adjust the prices of menu items including the Big Mac, according to a Techub report citing Decrypt. The system assigns an "optimal price" to each individual item at each restaurant rather than applying a uniform price across locations. As a result, price gaps have widened even between stores that are only two miles apart. The report said the machine learning model is designed to maximize revenue and updates menu prices in real time by analyzing local market data. The move points to a more granular pricing approach at the store level, with item pricing tied to local demand signals and what customers are willing to pay.290
AI pricing2026-08-07 15:20:08China AI Models Move to Time-Based Pricing as Token Demand SurgesChina's large language model providers are moving from flat per-use fees to tiered and time-based pricing as token demand explodes, according to CCTV Finance via Odaily. In the week from July 27 to August 2, weekly token call volumes hit 28.13 trillion, keeping China at the No.1 spot globally for a 14th consecutive week. The numbers underline a fast-growing market: platform operators report token demand is surging and that peak periods are already stretching supply. That mix of runaway demand and periodic compute shortages is now reshaping how model vendors bill their customers. Kimi, for example, has introduced four monthly subscription tiers priced between 39 and 559 yuan. DeepSeek, on the other hand, says it will raise prices for its open model API and is expected to adopt 'peak-valley' pricing, with daily peak windows from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. charged at double the standard rate.1930
