AI is helping gas stations collude to raise California fuel prices, lawsuit says

Gas station owners have found a use case for AI, lawsuit says: colluding to fix prices

AI-powered software has allowed gas station operators across California to illegally collude and drive up prices at the pump, according to a federal lawsuit. The proposed class action lawsuit, filed Monday, accuses gas station giants including Marathon and Circle K of violating California’s antitrust law through Kalibrate, a fuel-pricing software system used across the world. The plaintiffs describe Kalibrate as the “central nervous system for a…

CA Lawsuit Accuses Gas Stations Of Using AI To Artificially Boost Fuel Prices

California drivers have had an expensive time at the pump in 2026, and a new lawsuit alleges that AI may have had a hand in inflating the state's gas prices.

Did these gas stations use AI to inflate prices? Drivers file proposed class action lawsuit

BP, Circle K, 7-Eleven, Walmart, Marathon Petroleum and Albertsons are accused of violating antitrust law.

AI is helping gas stations collude to raise California fuel prices, lawsuit says

A federal lawsuit accuses gas station operators in California of using AI-powered software to illegally collude and raise prices.

Major gas stations are using AI to keep prices inflated, lawsuit says

The federal lawsuit claims major gas chains relied on an AI program that automatically pushed coordinated price adjustments directly to pumps and signs without human intervention

Suit: California Gas Stations Used AI Software To Collude, Raise Gas Prices

A new federal lawsuit alleges that some of California’s largest gas station operators illegally worked together through artificial intelligence software to inflate gasoline prices, accusing major fuel retailers of using a shared pricing platform to suppress competition and force motorists to pay more at the pump. Filed Monday as a proposed class-action lawsuit, the complaint claims that several prominent gas station chains—including Marathon and Circle K—violated California antitrust laws by relying on Kalibrate, a global AI-driven fuel pricing system that allegedly coordinated pricing strategies among competitors. According to the lawsuit, Kalibrate served as the “central nervous system for a conspiracy to extinguish retail price competition among gas stations,” allowing participating retailers to avoid genuine price competition. The complaint alleges that Kalibrate’s software actively encouraged stations to keep prices elevated while discouraging operators from lowering them. According to the filing, the program warned that cutting prices could trigger a “downward spiral,” effectively steering users away from competitive pricing. Rather than independently determining what consumers should pay, the lawsuit claims participating gas stations turned over sensitive pricing, cost, and fuel-volume information to Kalibrate Fuel Pricing. The software then allegedly used that information to recommend pricing strategies that minimized competition among nearby stations and resulted in higher prices for drivers. The lawsuit comes as Californians continue to pay some of the nation’s highest gasoline prices, with fuel costs climbing even further amid global market disruptions following the outbreak of the Iran war. Plaintiffs argue that Kalibrate enabled an illegal form of cartel behavior, contending that modern price-fixing no longer requires secret meetings because sophisticated AI software can accomplish the same objective electronically. One feature highlighted in the complaint, known as “restoration,” allegedly allowed gas stations within a given area to simultaneously increase fuel prices by significant amounts, making coordinated price hikes easier to implement. The lawsuit cites research indicating that algorithm-based fuel pricing systems raised gasoline prices by an average of approximately six cents per gallon and by as much as 30 cents per gallon in markets where the technology was widely adopted. According to the complaint, even a one-cent increase statewide costs California motorists roughly $134 million every year. Among the companies named as defendants are BP, Speedway, EG America, Walmart, and Albertsons, which together operate more than 1,700 gas stations throughout California. The proposed class-action seeks to represent California consumers who purchased gasoline at stations using Kalibrate’s software beginning in June 2022. The case is the latest in a growing wave of legal challenges targeting software platforms accused of using algorithms to increase prices for consumers across multiple industries. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice has pursued similar antitrust cases against RealPage, which was accused of helping landlords coordinate rent increases, and Agri Stats, which allegedly assisted meatpacking companies in raising grocery prices. Although both federal cases have since been settled, several state attorneys general continue to pursue litigation involving RealPage and various property management firms. Concern over algorithm-driven pricing has also prompted legislative action. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation explicitly confirming that the state’s antitrust laws apply to pricing algorithms, a legal change that plaintiffs say helped pave the way for the newly filed lawsuit. {Matzav.com}