Big Take Podcast

Why Instacart Backtracked on an AI-Pricing Experiment

Today on the Big Take: Instacart charged some consumers more for the same goods in a pricing experiment. It caught the attention of shoppers — and lawmakers.

The logo of Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, is arranged on a smartphone screen in Chongqing, China.Photographer: Cheng Xin/Getty Images

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This month, the think-tank the Groundwork Collaborative, Consumer Reports and the news nonprofit More Perfect Union released a report finding that Instacart had been using an AI tool to run algorithmic price experiments on shoppers around the country. As a result, shoppers were being charged different prices for the exact same items from the exact same stores.