Winners & losers: Once again, AI is blamed for something else besides failing to cure cancer. A class-action lawsuit in California accuses gas-station operators of using the tech to increase prices at the pump by as much as 30 cents a gallon in some areas.
The class action claims the defendants, which include BP, Circle K, Marathon Petroleum, 7-Eleven, Walmart, and Albertsons, violated California's main antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, writes Reuters.
The suit also claims the alleged conduct violates Assembly Bill 325, a state law designed to address algorithmic price fixing that took effect at the start of 2026.
According to AAA, California residents pay the highest gas prices in the US, at $5.56 per gallon, considerably higher than the $3.92 national average.
The complaint adds that Kalibrate's AI-powered price-optimizing tools have been used to push gas prices to levels reaching $7 per gallon. That's not far off the UK's equivalent average of around $8.10.
Kalibrate is also named as a defendant in the Sacramento federal court case. The lawsuit alleges its tool used data from competing gas stations to help coordinate higher prices, and seeks unspecified damages for California drivers who allegedly overpaid.
The defendants operate over 1,700 gas stations in California, with each extra penny added to the price of gas costing drivers in the state an extra $134 million per year, according to the suit.
"While families struggle to afford the commute to work, defendants have conspired to put an end to competition, joining an AI-powered trust to ensure that no matter where a driver turns, the price for gasoline is artificially high," the complaint said.
There has been plenty of controversy over the use of AI to price goods and services. Back in March, it was reported that Walmart had secured two US patents this year covering automated markdowns and machine learning-based demand forecasting.
This isn't a new problem, either. In August 2025, Delta Air Lines was forced to deny using artificial intelligence to set ticket prices based on individual customer data, responding to concerns raised by several members of the US Senate. The airline issued its statement following criticism from lawmakers who alleged that Delta was exploring advanced pricing models designed to tailor fares to the maximum amount each customer might be willing to pay – a practice sometimes referred to as surveillance pricing.
The California case is the latest incident likely to increase anti-AI sentiment. From job losses and data center construction to an internet filled with slop, the technology isn't being hailed as the miracle that many executives expected. But while just 16% of Americans think AI will benefit society, chatbot use among US adults has climbed to an all-time high of 49%.
Gas stations accused of using AI to inflate fuel prices in class-action lawsuit
