Burger King is testing AI headsets that will know if employees say ‘welcome’ or ‘thank you’

Burger King is testing AI-powered headsets that can read recipes, alert managers when stocks are low, and even track how friendly employees are with customers.

Restaurant Brands International — the Miami-based company that owns Burger King, Popeyes and other brands — said Thursday that it is currently testing OpenAI-powered headsets in 500 U.S. restaurants.

The system collects data about the restaurant’s operations and shares it via “Batti,” a voice that speaks to employees through their headphones. If the beverage machine is low on Diet Coke, Patty will tell the store manager. If a customer uses the QR code to report a messy bathroom, a manager will be alerted.

Employees can ask Patti how to prepare different menu items or ask Patti to remove items from digital menus if they run out of ingredients.

Burger King said it is also exploring the use of patties as a way to improve customer service. The system can track when employees say keywords like “hello,” “please,” and “thank you” and share it with managers.

When Burger King was asked about the capability Thursday by The Associated Press, it said the goal was to use Patty as a training tool, not as a tool to track individual employees.

“It’s not about recording people or enforcing scripts. It’s about enhancing hospitality and giving managers useful real-time insights so they can get to know their teams more effectively,” Burger King said in a statement.

Burger King added that keywords are “one of many signals to help managers understand service patterns.”

“We believe that hospitality is fundamentally human,” Burger King said. “The role of this technology is to support our teams so they can stay present with guests.”

Patty is part of the larger app-based BK Assistant platform that will be available to all US restaurants later this year.

Burger King is one of many fast food chains experimenting with artificial intelligence. Yum Brands said last spring that it had partnered with Nvidia to develop artificial intelligence technologies for its brands, which include KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

McDonald’s ended its partnership with IBM in 2024 that had been testing automated drive-thru orders. The company is now working with Google on artificial intelligence systems.