Instacart reportedly under FTC probe over AI pricing

The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating Instacart over its AI-powered pricing tool, according to sources.

Instacart, a US-based retail platform, is facing scrutiny after reports that its Eversight software allowed retailers to test different prices using AI, resulting in some customers being charged more than others for the same groceries.

The FTC has sent the company a civil investigative demand seeking details about the tool, one source said.

A recent study highlighted that Instacart users saw varying prices for identical items, sparking criticism.

The FTC declined to confirm the investigation, but said it is disturbed by what it has read in the press about Instacart’s alleged pricing practices.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

FTC’s reported AI pricing scrutiny has little legal precedent

An FTC probe into Instacart could be a test of algorithmic pricing enforcement (using software to set or personalize prices) since courts lack precedent to treat AI-driven personalized pricing (charging different customers different prices based on data) as unfair or deceptive under consumer protection law 1.
FTC, along with 17 state attorneys general, sued Amazon and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with several state attorneys general sued RealPage (a property management software provider whose rent-pricing tools are used by landlords) over alleged anticompetitive pricing algorithms 2. An Instacart case would test whether differential pricing alone counts as an unfair or deceptive practice, a theory not yet fully tested in court 1.
Timing matters because new FTC leadership plans to scale back its surveillance pricing 6(b) study (a research initiative using the FTC’s Section 6(b) authority to compel information from companies about data-driven pricing practices) in 2025 2.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors face state pricing transparency rules

New York’s Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act requires software using dynamic pricing tools (software that adjusts prices based on demand or user data) to display the label “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA”, with penalties up to $1,000 per violation now enforceable 3.
More than 50 algorithmic pricing bills appeared in 24 states in 2025 4. Vendors face a patchwork of rules with different disclosure duties, data limits and sector bans.
Vendors should add configurable disclosure features now and map which state laws cover their retail clients, as California’s Assembly Bill 325 (AB 325) also bans sharing competitor data through common pricing algorithms 4.