Taco Bell AI drive-through system crashes after customer orders 18,000 cups of water
Taco Bell's voice AI ordering system, deployed at over 500 drive-through locations since 2023, repeatedly malfunctioned including crashing when a customer ordered 18,000 cups of water. The system lacked safeguards against unreasonable orders and had no human review process, leading to widespread customer complaints and viral videos of the failures.
What happened
Taco Bell's voice AI ordering system malfunctioned when a customer ordered 18,000 cups of water in a single transaction, crashing the system.
Since its introduction at over 500 drive-through locations in 2023, the system exhibited widespread reliability issues including insisting customers add extra drinks, refusing substitutions, misinterpreting items, and confusing customers about menu availability.
Reported impact
Viral videos of the system's failures were viewed millions of times, with one Instagram clip showing the AI repeatedly asking a customer "and what will you drink with that?" garnering over 21.5 million views.
Despite the failures, Taco Bell reported that two million orders had been successfully processed using the voice AI since its introduction.
Index analysis
The system lacked adequate controls to flag or block unreasonable orders, exposing it to exploitation and pranks.
There was no human-driven review designed into the system to identify or halt obviously unrealistic transactions, and Taco Bell's governance model did not empower staff to intervene quickly when the system was failing.
Governance controls
Taco Bell's Chief Digital and Technology Officer stated the firm was "learning a lot" and would think carefully about where to use AI going forward, including reconsidering use at drive-throughs.
The company said it would "help coach teams on when to use voice AI and when it's better to monitor or step in," particularly during busy periods when humans are better suited to take orders.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.