Marc Lore, the veteran e-commerce entrepreneur who previously sold his startups to Amazon and Walmart, is betting big on artificial intelligence to transform the restaurant industry. His current venture, Wonder, has evolved from a food-truck operation into a vertically integrated dining and delivery platform that now features tech-enabled kitchens capable of operating as multiple virtual restaurant brands. The centerpiece of this vision is a new initiative called Wonder Create, which promises to allow anyone—from seasoned food entrepreneurs to social media influencers—to design and launch their own restaurant brand in under a minute using AI.
How Wonder Create Works
Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything conference, Lore detailed how the platform functions. Users begin by typing a simple prompt describing the kind of restaurant they want to build. The AI then generates the entire brand: a name, logo, branding, menu descriptions, pricing, nutritional information, and even the recipes. This process takes less than 60 seconds, according to Lore. Once the user is satisfied, the virtual restaurant goes live across Wonder's growing network of 120 programmable cooking platforms, which are designed to operate as up to 25 different types of cuisine within a single location. Wonder expects to expand to 400 such kitchens by next year.
The kitchens themselves are futuristic. They are all-electric, increasingly robotic, and contain a library of 700 ingredients. A staff of up to 12 people work alongside equipment such as conveyors and robotic arms to prepare meals. Wonder recently acquired Spice Robotics, a maker of automatic bowl-making machines previously used by Sweetgreen, and plans to introduce an "infinite sauce machine" capable of producing roughly 80% of all sauces found in internet recipes. This automation is not intended to reduce headcount but to increase throughput. Lore noted that while a current kitchen can produce about 7 million meals annually with 12 staff, improvements in robotics could push that figure to 20 million meals from the same 2,500-square-foot space with the same number of employees.
Background on Marc Lore and Wonder
Marc Lore is a serial entrepreneur who first gained prominence with Diapers.com, which was acquired by Amazon. He then co-founded Jet.com, which Walmart bought for $3.3 billion in 2016. After a stint as a Walmart executive, Lore left to start Wonder, initially conceived as a food truck that would deliver high-end meals. The concept evolved into a network of physical restaurants that also function as ghost kitchens for multiple brands. Wonder has since acquired Grubhub, giving it a massive delivery infrastructure capable of 250 million deliveries per year, and Blue Apron, which added meal-kit capabilities. These acquisitions, combined with the robotic kitchen technology, create a vertically integrated system that Lore believes is uniquely positioned to disrupt the traditional restaurant business.
The company has also been actively acquiring existing restaurant brands. In February, Wonder purchased New York City-based Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken for $6.5 million. Lore explained that buying a brand with 10 or 50 locations and then rapidly expanding it to 1,000 kitchens offers an incredible arbitrage opportunity. The acquisition model allows Wonder to leverage existing brand recognition while scaling production through its automated kitchens.
Targeting the Ghost Kitchen Problem
Wonder Create arrives in a landscape scarred by the ghost kitchen hype of the early 2020s. Many high-profile ghost kitchen operators, such as CloudKitchens and various celebrity-backed brands, scaled back or shut down after struggling with inconsistent food quality and customer loyalty. A notorious example is MrBeast Burger, which faced widespread complaints because it relied on dozens of different contracted kitchens with varying standards. Wonder's programmable robotic kitchens are designed to solve this exact problem by ensuring that every meal is prepared using the same equipment, ingredients, and recipes, regardless of location. Lore acknowledged that there are still limitations—for instance, their robots cannot toss and stretch pizza dough or slice and roll sushi, so the focus remains on simpler items like burgers, chicken wings, fried chicken, and bowls.
The AI-generated brands are intended to lower the entry barrier dramatically. Traditionally, opening a restaurant requires significant capital for real estate, equipment, staff, and marketing. Wonder Create eliminates many of those costs by using a shared kitchen infrastructure and digital storefronts. The platform could also be used for experimentation—for example, a chef could test new recipes on the platform before committing to a brick-and-mortar location. Beyond professional restaurateurs, Lore sees opportunities for influencers to connect with their audiences by creating personal restaurant brands without any operational burden. "It could be a mega-influencer, a micro-influencer—anyone that wants to monetize their following," Lore said. He also suggested applications for private trainers creating custom healthy bowls, nonprofits raising awareness, or even movie studios like Disney launching themed menus to promote a new film. "Anybody can make a restaurant," he emphasized.
Challenges and Future Outlook
While the concept is ambitious, it remains unproven at scale. The success of Wonder Create will depend on whether consumers embrace AI-generated brands—many of which may lack the human touch that defines traditional dining. The ghost kitchen model struggled partly because customers did not develop loyalty to digital-only brands. Wonder's integration of physical pick-up and dine-in options (the restaurants have 10 to 20 seats) may help, but the execution will be critical. Additionally, the company must ensure that the AI-generated recipes are consistent, safe, and appealing. With a 700-ingredient library and automated cooking, quality control is managed centrally, which could be a strength.
Lore noted that by 2035, he envisions 1,000 unique restaurant brands operating out of a single 2,500-square-foot kitchen. This would represent a radical departure from current restaurant economics, where each brand typically requires its own dedicated space. The combination of AI for brand creation, robotics for production, and a delivery network from Grubhub could create an unprecedented platform for food entrepreneurship. However, skeptics point out that the technology is still evolving and that consumer tastes are notoriously hard to predict. Wonder's bet is that by removing friction—from design to cooking to delivery—it can tap into a latent demand for new food concepts that was previously impossible to serve economically.
As Wonder expands its kitchen network to 400 locations next year, early adopters of Wonder Create will be closely watched. The platform is expected to launch in beta soon, allowing food entrepreneurs and influencers to test the waters. If successful, it could democratize restaurant ownership, making it possible for anyone with a creative idea and a smartphone to launch a food brand—something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.
Source: TechCrunch News