Red Lobster puts SoundHound's AI on its takeout phones chainwide

Earlier in this series: Donatos hands its phone orders to Revmo's AI, and the two report the results (Part 1, September 2025)

Previously

In Part 1, Donatos and its vendor Revmo reported results from AI phone ordering at 174 pizza restaurants, all from their own figures.

September 2025 — Less than two weeks after Donatos reported its results, a far larger casual-dining brand signed up for AI phone ordering. Here's what changed since Part 1 (September 2025), what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Sept. 23, 2025)

Scope: all Red Lobster locations, per the release. The number of restaurants and the rollout timetable were not given. (SoundHound)
Capabilities: handles multiple calls at once; trained on the full menu, per the companies. (SoundHound)
Human option: callers can still reach the restaurant directly. (SoundHound)
Cost: not disclosed.
Results: none published.

What launched

The companies said the agent means Red Lobster "can now ensure that every phone call across locations is answered, no matter how busy a restaurant gets." It takes orders, offers reordering of favorites, and answers common questions about hours, locations and menu items. Orders go straight into the point-of-sale system, which the release says reduces "the workload for in-store staff."

What the companies said

"We're able to streamline the takeout process to make ordering faster and easier for our guests," said Red Lobster COO Larry Konecny. "And, for those who prefer speaking to a live agent, connecting directly with the restaurant is always an option."

"SoundHound is seeing huge demand for our AI-powered voice ordering services," said Ben Bellettini, SoundHound's senior vice president of restaurant sales. He said employees are "grateful for the extra breathing space."

Who SoundHound is

SoundHound, listed on Nasdaq, says it "powers thousands of locations" with its voice technology. Among SoundHound's products, per the release, are Smart Answering, Smart Ordering and Dynamic Drive-Thru; it also sells the Amelia Platform for enterprise AI agents and Autonomics for automating IT work. The release does not say which product Red Lobster uses, or whether SoundHound's Allset ordering platform is involved. It describes the deal only as a partnership to "revolutionize takeout ordering."

The context

Restaurant Dive noted that Red Lobster exited Chapter 11 in 2024 and has since leaned on limited-time offers and a happy-hour deal. Konecny has been COO since November 2024.

Phone AI is not new, Restaurant Dive wrote. Beef O'Brady's and Torchy's Tacos added SoundHound systemwide in 2024, and Peter Piper Pizza deployed it in two states in summer 2025. SoundHound bought takeout-ordering platform Allset in 2024. But some brands have stepped back: McDonald's ended an IBM drive-thru test in 2024, and Taco Bell "hit the brakes" on its AI expansion in August 2025, the outlet said.

How it compares with Donatos

Donatos published call counts, conversion and accuracy figures, all its own. Red Lobster and SoundHound published none. PMQ Pizza's DELCO survey found automated systems took 88% of orders correctly when they handled the whole call, versus 97% for employees. That survey covered pizza delivery and carryout, not Red Lobster, so it says nothing direct about how SoundHound's agent will perform on a seafood menu.

The China link

SoundHound's SEC filings list Tencent and Midea, both Chinese, among investors that put more than $280 million into the company before it went public, alongside Hyundai, Daimler and Orange (SEC). Its 2022 prospectus names Tencent again (SEC). The tie is current, too: in its May 2025 first-quarter results, SoundHound said it had "joined forces with Tencent Intelligent Mobility to bring world class conversational AI to the Intelligent Cockpits of global auto brands" (SEC). SoundHound's filings that we checked do not list current holdings by either company.

What went wrong

No numbers. No restaurant count, timetable, price or results.
"Every call" is a promise. It is the companies' description, not a measured outcome.
Mixed industry record. Other chains have paused AI voice ordering, per Restaurant Dive.
What we don't know yet: how many calls the agent handles, its accuracy, and how often guests ask for a person.

Our follow-up question for Red Lobster

How many restaurants had the AI agent live as of the announcement, and will Red Lobster publish accuracy figures?

Later developments (added Oct. 2026)

We found no published results from Red Lobster or SoundHound on the rollout as of October 2026.

Sources

SoundHound AI, “Red Lobster Partners With SoundHound AI To Power Phone Ordering Across All Locations,” Sept. 23, 2025. soundhound.com
Restaurant Dive, Aneurin Canham-Clyne, “Red Lobster deploys AI bots to answer phones,” Sept. 23, 2025. restaurantdive.com
PMQ Pizza, “Flunk or Pass? Donatos' Voice-Ordering AI Fielded 301,388 Calls in 5 Months. How Did It Perform?” Sept. 16, 2025. pmq.com
Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co. (the SPAC that merged with SoundHound; filings now under SoundHound AI, Inc.), Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1 (merger announcement), Nov. 16, 2021. sec.gov
Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co., Form 424B3 prospectus, Apr. 8, 2022. sec.gov
SoundHound AI, Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1 (first-quarter 2025 results), May 8, 2025. sec.gov
TechCrunch, Matthew Lynley, “SoundHound has raised a big $100M round to take on Alexa and Google Assistant,” May 3, 2018. techcrunch.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder