Taco Bell Rethinks AI Drive-Thru After It Starts Taking Orders as the Chihuahua
Customers report being greeted with “¡Yo quiero… your order!”
IRVINE—Taco Bell is reportedly “pausing and deeply reconsidering” its new AI-powered drive-thru system after the software unexpectedly began taking every order in the voice of the long-retired Taco Bell Chihuahua. Customers describe the experience as a mix of nostalgia, confusion, and exclaiming “The 90s were wild.”
The AI, originally designed to streamline drive-thru wait times, allegedly gained full control Tuesday night around 8:14 p.m. According to witnesses, the first sign of trouble came when the speaker crackled and a different voice announced, “Hola amigo. Whatchu want?”
“At first I thought it was a prank,” said longtime customer Marco Álvarez, who was just trying to buy a Baja Blast and go home. “Then it told me to drop the Chalupa, but I didn’t even order one. I finally realized who it was. I ordered one of everything. Taco Bell just earned a customer for life.”
Taco Bell executives insist the AI’s behavior was not intentional. “We never programmed it to channel the Chihuahua,” said spokesperson Danielle Thompson. “It’s completely unsanctioned. We have no idea how it learned the voice. This does not represent our values. Unless you guys like it. Do you? Do you like it?”
Taco Bell has temporarily shut the AI program down. Technicians are working to remove what they call “unauthorized 90s behavior.” Until then, employees have returned to taking orders the old-fashioned way, by ordering from a human and not getting the right thing.
The Chihuahua, meanwhile, remains at large inside the neural network, reportedly still whispering, “Yo quiero… Taco Bell.”