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Today: Fast food chains are walking back AI drive-thrus after customer backlash and SEC fraud charges against the tech providers. Apple plans privacy-first Siri relaunch with auto-deleting chats. Graduates booed Eric Schmidt for cheerleading AI job displacement.
Fast food AI is having a reality check. McDonald's killed its IBM voice-ordering partnership in 2024, and now Taco Bell is reevaluating its AI drive-thru rollout after customers started trolling the bots by ordering 18,000 water cups just to bypass the system and reach a human worker. A January 2025 YouGov survey found 55% of Americans prefer a human to take their order, compared to just 4% who want AI.
The bigger story is what happened to Presto, the company powering AI drive-thrus at Checkers, Rally's, Carl's Jr., and Hardee's. The SEC charged Presto with fraud after discovering that human workers in the Philippines stepped in for most orders, not AI. That's not a minor technical issue. That's selling a product you don't have.
If you run a customer-facing business and you're thinking about deploying AI for interactions, this is your warning. Customers hate being forced to talk to bots that don't work. The cost of frustrating your existing customers is higher than any labor savings from automation that barely functions. McDonald's is giving AI drive-thrus a second chance, but the industry learned the hard way that you can't fake AI capability with offshore labor and expect no one to notice. (The Verge)
GM is laying off IT workers to hire AI engineers. General Motors cut 600 IT employees (over 10% of that department) to make room for AI-focused hires. They're looking for AI-native developers, data engineers, cloud engineers, and prompt engineers. This is a deliberate skills swap, and it won't be one-to-one. Expect a net job loss. Ford, GM, and Stellantis have cut a combined 20,000 U.S. salaried jobs (19% of their combined workforces) this decade, with AI and technological changes as the main driver. If you're a small business owner hiring tech talent, this is good news for you. There's suddenly a flood of experienced IT workers on the market who got displaced by AI initiatives at big companies. (TechCrunch)
Samsara found a revenue-generating AI use case. The company spent a decade putting cameras in millions of trucks for driver monitoring and liability claims. They took that data mountain and trained a model that detects potholes and tracks how fast they're deteriorating. Now they're selling it to cities. Chicago is already a customer. This is what actual AI business models look like. You have proprietary data, you train a model on it, you solve a specific problem someone will pay for. (TechCrunch)
Graduates are booing AI cheerleading. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt got loudly booed at University of Arizona's commencement when he told students they'll "help shape artificial intelligence" and should "get on the rocket ship." Gloria Caulfield faced the same response at University of Central Florida when she called AI "the next industrial revolution." Students cheered when she said AI was NOT a factor in our lives a few years ago. This isn't a fringe reaction. In a recent Gallup poll, only 43% of Americans aged 15-34 said it's a good time to find a job locally, down from 75% in 2022. AI didn't cause all of that drop, but it's become the symbol of job anxiety for a generation entering the workforce. If you're selling AI tools, understand that public sentiment is turning hostile, especially among younger workers. (TechCrunch, The Verge)
Trust is the theme at the Musk-OpenAI trial. The trial wrapped up this week, and the big question is whether OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is trustworthy. Musk's attorney grilled Altman about statements he made during congressional testimony. But as tech journalists covering the trial noted, trust isn't just an Altman problem. It's a fundamental question for all AI labs. These are privately held companies with a lot happening behind the veil. Until they IPO, we're operating on trust. The outcome of this trial could set a precedent for how much skepticism regulators and the public apply to AI company claims. (TechCrunch)
Apple is relaunching Siri with privacy as the differentiator. At WWDC in June, Apple will unveil a standalone Siri app powered by Google Gemini, offering ChatGPT-style chat interactions. The privacy angle: users can auto-delete conversations after 30 days, one year, or keep them forever. That's different from competitors who generally only offer temporary incognito chats. Apple is placing tighter limits on how memory works, including restrictions on what information persists and how long it can be retained. This is Apple betting that people will trade convenience for privacy as AI anxiety increases. If you serve privacy-conscious customers, this is the positioning to watch. Apple is turning AI limitations into a selling point. (TechCrunch, The Verge)
PayPal aims to support 25 million small businesses by 2030. PayPal announced a goal to empower 25 million people and small businesses globally by 2030 through digital financial tools, training, and capital access. They've already facilitated over $30 billion in capital through loans and cash advances to more than 420,000 business accounts. Their partnership with Kiva.org has resulted in $2.4 billion in loans to microbusinesses across 80 countries. For small business owners, this means more accessible digital financial tools, education resources, and potential funding. The challenge is the learning curve for non-tech-savvy owners. PayPal is prioritizing training and support to help demystify the transition. If you've struggled to access traditional financing, this initiative could open new funding paths. (Small Business Trends)
Gartner says PR budgets will double by 2027 because of AI search. AI search engines are changing how brands get discovered. The brands showing up in AI recommendations are the ones that did the press work. If you're not investing in PR and content distribution, you won't exist in AI search results. This is a structural shift in how discovery works. SEO used to be about gaming Google's algorithm. Now it's about being the authoritative source that AI models cite. That requires a different strategy: original research, expert commentary, press coverage. If your marketing budget doesn't have a line item for PR, you're going to lose visibility as AI search grows. (Inc.com)
Don't force AI on your customers. The drive-thru AI disaster is a perfect case study. Customers will find creative ways to bypass your AI if they hate it (like ordering 18,000 water cups). If you're deploying customer-facing AI, make sure there's an easy escape hatch to reach a human. Test it extensively before full rollout. And never, ever fake AI capability with hidden human workers.
If you're hiring tech talent, there's a buyer's market right now. Big companies are laying off experienced IT workers to make room for AI specialists. That means there's a pool of talented, experienced professionals available who got displaced through no fault of their own. Post your openings and be prepared to move fast.
The AI hype cycle is crashing into reality this week. Fast food chains are retreating from AI that doesn't work. Graduates are booing executives who tell them to embrace job displacement. The SEC is charging companies with fraud for faking AI capability. Meanwhile, Apple is betting that privacy-first AI can be a competitive advantage as trust erodes. If you're a business owner evaluating AI tools, this is the moment to get skeptical. Demand proof that the technology works. Demand transparency about what's actually AI versus human labor. And never deploy customer-facing AI without a clear escape path to human support. The companies that survive the AI shakeout will be the ones that solved real problems, not the ones that chased hype.