Tue Dec 23 13:20:00 UTC 2025: Instacart Halts AI Pricing Tests Amid Scrutiny and Rebuke

San Francisco, CA – Instacart announced Monday it is ending its use of AI-driven pricing experiments on its grocery delivery platform, effective immediately. The decision follows a recent study highlighting the practice’s potential to cause shoppers to pay different prices for the same items at the same store, sparking criticism from consumer advocates and lawmakers.

The company, in a blog post, stated that retailers will no longer be able to utilize the Eversight technology it acquired for $59 million in 2022 to conduct pricing tests. Eversight allowed retailers to gauge customer reactions to price fluctuations on specific goods.

“We understand that the tests we ran with a small number of retail partners that resulted in different prices for the same item at the same store missed the mark for some customers,” Instacart wrote. “At a time when families are working exceptionally hard to stretch every grocery dollar, those tests raised concerns, leaving some people questioning the prices they see on Instacart. That’s not okay – especially for a company built on trust, transparency, and affordability.”

The decision comes on the heels of a study by Consumer Reports and other organizations, revealing that Instacart’s algorithmic pricing led to price variations for identical items within the same store. The study estimated these differences could cost customers upwards of $1,000 extra annually.

Instacart had previously maintained that retailers set prices on the platform and denied that the technology constituted “surveillance pricing” or “dynamic pricing.” They also claimed that pricing tests were never based on customer’s personal, demographic or individual data.

Last week, Reuters reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had launched a civil investigation into Instacart’s pricing practices. This announcement closely follows a separate settlement where Instacart was ordered to pay $60 million in refunds to customers to resolve FTC claims of deceptive practices related to subscription sign-ups and guarantees. Instacart has also stated they answered question from the FTC regarding its AI pricing tools.

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