{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"AI Neanderthal by Malcolm Werchota","title":"#43 - Burgers, Acne Cream and Nuclear Power: AI Walks Out of the Lab","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/f48aca9b\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1311,"description":"In Utah, an app now writes acne prescriptions and no doctor signs them. In Chicago, a McDonald's customer is suing because he thinks an AI helps set the price of his burger. Plus DeepSeek's $12 billion war chest, Google's nuclear deal and insurers bracing for rogue AI agents.\n\nToday is one question: who is actually making the decisions now?\n\nIn this episode:\n🌑 McDonald's sued over an AI pricing tool (02:14) — Reuters reports that Michael Thomas from DeKalb, Illinois, has sued McDonald's in federal court in Chicago. About 95 percent of McDonald's nearly 14,000 US restaurants are run by franchisees, and they use a pricing tool from Tiger Analytics that recommends prices \"based on its estimation of what customers are willing to pay\". The complaint argues that when every restaurant feeds its sales data into the same machine and gets price advice back from it, independent owners stop competing. According to heise, it claims the tool suggests a price increase once an item has gone up in at least 30 percent of locations. These are allegations, and McDonald's says AI does not set the price of a Big Mac. What is not in dispute: average menu prices rose about 40 percent in roughly five years. If this becomes a class action, McDonald's has a much bigger problem.\n🌑 Utah lets an AI write acne prescriptions (06:56) — Nolla Health, which has already treated more than 50,000 patients in Norway, launched its Nolla Derm app in Utah: answer a questionnaire, scan your face, and the AI writes the prescription without a doctor signing it. The company says it is the first AI in the US allowed to write first-time prescriptions. It runs in Utah's regulatory sandbox, for adults with mild to moderate acne, and only for creams and gels. The pilot costs $4.99 a month. Company figures: only about 10 percent of Utahns with active acne see a skin doctor, the average wait is 61 days, and a visit can cost up to $300. My take: health systems under pressure everywhere will look at this very...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/0Up7tcMuVZ4o57Iv4ifZS1RwZ9v586rtihtmL6xMbcU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9hMjM5/YzFjODNkNmY4NDNk/MDllMDE5NGQ3MjE4/NTM3ZS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}