Yes. Dairy Queen is expanding a limited test of Presto Phoenix voice AI to selected franchisee drive-thrus in Canada and the United States. The Canadian restaurants have not been publicly identified, and the rollout is a phased pilot—not a chainwide launch.
What the Dairy Queen drive-thru AI does
American Dairy Queen Corporation announced its partnership with Presto Phoenix on April 16, 2026. The system is designed to take drive-thru orders, work with complex menus, read orders back for confirmation and support consistent upselling. It is intended to handle the order-taking interaction, rather than merely greet customers.
Dairy Queen says the technology could help speed service and improve order accuracy while allowing employees to focus on other tasks. Presto CEO Krishna Gupta described the work as including complex menu integrations, friendly voices and a “smooth human-AI waltz”; that is the vendor’s characterization of the system, not an independent performance assessment.
Where and how widely the test is expanding
The initial U.S. test began in 2025 at a handful of locations. After several months of testing in company-operated restaurants, Dairy Queen began expanding the pilot to selected franchisees in both countries. MobileSyrup reported on April 17, 2026, that several dozen franchised locations across Canada and the U.S. were planned, but did not identify the Canadian restaurants.
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Restaurant Dive reported that the first expansion phase would involve at least 25 franchisees across at least 25 U.S. states and Canadian provinces. That does not mean every province or state is included, nor does the count identify how many of those franchisees are Canadian. Presto has described a longer-term ambition to deploy the system across roughly 3,000 Dairy Queen drive-thrus in the two countries; that is an ambition, not a confirmed rollout schedule or commitment.
Chain-size figures refer to different geographies and store formats. Restaurant Business described Dairy Queen as a 4,115-unit chain. Separately, Restaurant Dive’s reporting on 2025 U.S. franchise disclosures counted about 1,985 franchised Grill & Chill locations, 743 limited-menu Treats stores and two company-operated units. Those U.S. figures are not the same as the roughly 3,000 U.S. and Canadian drive-thrus cited as a possible long-term deployment base.
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What is known about early results
Dairy Queen has described the early results as promising. Its executive vice president of IT, Kevin Baartman, said the initial results “look quite promising” and said the goal is to help staff focus on higher-value tasks while maintaining a friendly experience and high order accuracy. NACS reported that Dairy Queen cited double-digit improvements in customer-satisfaction scores during early tests.
The Independent reported an approximately 90% order-accuracy figure for the initial pilot. Treat that as attributed reporting: Restaurant Dive said Presto declined to provide more specific performance figures, and the available coverage does not establish that the 90% number was independently audited. The published information also does not provide enough detail to compare performance across locations or assess how the system handles unusual orders and handoffs to employees.
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What Canadian customers should expect
Because the Canadian locations have not been named, customers cannot use the public information to determine whether a particular Dairy Queen has the AI system. The pilot’s presence in Canada means some selected franchisees are included; it does not establish availability at any specific restaurant. The reported goals—faster service, accurate order confirmation and consistent upselling—are aims of the test, not guarantees for every order.
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