A group of consumers from California has filed a lawsuit in the Sacramento federal court against gas station owners, accusing them of illegally manipulating fuel prices using artificial intelligence.
Bloomberg reported on this.
The lawsuit involves companies such as Walmart Inc., Marathon Petroleum Corp., BP Plc, and 7-Eleven Inc. In total, they operate over 1,700 gas stations in the state.
According to the plaintiffs, the companies utilized an artificial intelligence tool from Kalibrate Fuel Systems Ltd., which automatically adjusted prices based on confidential data. This occurred during a period when the price of gasoline in some areas of California exceeded $7 per gallon.
The plaintiffs claim that by employing this algorithm, the gas station owners inflated gasoline prices by 22 cents per gallon and diesel fuel prices by 33 cents. The complaint also notes that every additional penny in fuel cost amounts to approximately $134 million annually for California drivers.
Last month, California’s fuel regulator issued subpoenas to some gas station owners due to high prices.
This lawsuit is one of the first filed under AB 325, a law California passed last year. It prohibits the use of shared pricing algorithms.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for drivers in the state who, they allege, overpaid for fuel, in accordance with California’s antitrust laws.
Spokespeople for Walmart, Marathon, BP, 7-Eleven, and Kalibrate did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment on the lawsuit.
Source: suspilne.media