FTC Launches Probe Into Instacart Over AI-Driven Pricing Tactics

Investigators from Groundwork Collaborative, Consumer Reports, and More Perfect Union documented significant price disparities across the platform. In Seattle, shoppers faced markups of up to 23% on common staples like peanut butter and crackers compared to other customers. Similar discrepancies emerged in Washington, D.C., where users were charged varying prices for eggs at identical times. These experiments utilize AI software known as Eversight to adjust costs, a practice critics describe as algorithmic price gouging during a period of high inflation.

Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, stated that the agency must move beyond the initial probe to implement substantive consumer protections. Advocacy groups are pushing the FTC to utilize Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to classify these AI-enabled strategies as unfair and deceptive. Following the announcement of the investigation, Instacart shares fell approximately 7%. The scrutiny coincides with a separate $60 million settlement the company reached with the FTC to resolve allegations regarding misleading advertisements for free delivery and service fees.