Why Instacart Backtracked on an AI-Pricing Experiment
· 20 min
Episode Why Instacart Backtracked on an AI-Pricing Experiment
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.
At a time when inflation has driven grocery costs higher, the revelation that Instacart was charging some consumers more for the same goods struck a chord.
On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder speaks with Bloomberg’s antitrust reporter Leah Nylen and the Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens about the report’s findings and impact — and Instacart’s decision to end their experiment.
Read more: Instacart to Pay $60 Million to Settle FTC Consumer Protection Case
Hosted by: Sarah Holder; Produced by: Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by: Leah Nylen; Edited by: Naomi Shavin and Aaron Edwards; Fact-checking by: Julia Press; Engineering by: Katie McMurran.
Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin. Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.
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Transcript
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