AI Will Soon Let Anyone Open a Restaurant, Says Marc Lore

The e-commerce veteran who sold his companies to Amazon and Walmart is now betting that artificial intelligence will democratize restaurant ownership. Marc Lore, founder of the dining platform Wonder, outlined an ambitious vision at The Wall Street Journal’s “Future of Everything” conference this week, revealing plans to let virtually anyone create a restaurant brand in under a minute using AI.

The initiative, called Wonder Create, allows users from food entrepreneurs to social media influencers to design and launch a virtual restaurant through an AI-powered prompt system. Lore described it as a “Shopify front-end with an AI prompt.” The concept works simply: a user types in the type of restaurant they want, and the AI generates the name, branding, images, pricing, nutritional information, and all recipes in less than 60 seconds. If adjustments are needed, the user refines the prompt. Once finalized, the restaurant goes live across Wonder’s network of tech-enabled kitchens, which currently numbers 120 locations and is expected to expand to 400 next year.

Wonder’s kitchens are far from conventional. They function as “programmable cooking platforms” capable of operating as 25 different cuisines within all-electric spaces that increasingly rely on robotics. Each location houses a library of 700 ingredients and employs up to 12 staff members alongside cooking technology like conveyors and robotic arms. The company recently acquired Spice Robotics, a maker of automatic bowl-making machines previously used by Sweetgreen. Next year, Wonder plans to introduce an “infinite sauce machine” capable of producing roughly 80% of all sauces found in internet recipes.

Lore emphasized that adding robotics does not mean reducing headcount. Instead, the goal is to dramatically increase kitchen throughput. “We have about 7 million throughput capacity with 12 people,” he said. “We see a path to getting to 20 million throughput out of 2,500 square feet with just 12 people.” By 2035, he envisions 1,000 unique restaurant brands operating from a single 2,500-square-foot space.

The potential applications extend beyond traditional restaurateurs. Lore sees influencers, personal trainers, nonprofits, and even entertainment companies like Disney using the platform to create branded dining experiences for marketing or monetization. “Anybody can make a restaurant,” he said.

Yet the ghost kitchen concept has a troubled history. High-profile ventures like MrBeast Burger struggled with inconsistent food quality and customer loyalty, leading many operators to scale back or shut down. Wonder’s programmable, automated kitchens aim to solve that inconsistency by centralizing production rather than relying on dozens of contracted kitchens. Still, the model remains unproven at scale.

Lore acknowledged limitations. The current system cannot handle tasks like tossing pizza dough or rolling sushi. Wonder focuses on simpler fare: burgers, chicken wings, fried chicken, and bowls. The broader strategy involves leveraging acquisitions like Grubhub (250 million annual deliveries) and Blue Apron (meal kits), alongside purchasing restaurant brands such as New York City’s Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken for $6.5 million in February. “When you buy a brand that has 10 or even 50 locations, and then overnight put it in 1,000, there’s just an incredible arbitrage there,” Lore noted.