Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On January 8, 2026, New York Attorney General Letitia James (the “NY AG”) sent a letter to Instacart demanding more information about the grocery platform’s use of algorithmic pricing and price-setting experiments. The letter followed a report by Groundwork Collaborative and Consumer Reports that showed Instacart users being charged differing prices for the same products, including a 13% average difference between the highest and lowest prices for a single product. Instacart had announced, following the report, that it would end all item price tests on its platform, but the NY AG expressed concerns that Instacart may not be complying with the Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act (the “Act”), in particular because Instacart’s partners, such as grocery stores and food brands, may continue to conduct such tests on Instacart’s platform.

The Act, which took effect on November 10, 2025, requires a clear and conspicuous disclosure that a price was set by an algorithm using personal data. The NY AG alleges in the press release announcing the letter that the relevant disclosures are “buried on a page only accessible by clicking on fine print text and are not clearly displayed near product prices.”

The NY AG has demanded documents and information relating to Instacart’s agreements with its retail and food brand partners concerning price-setting, discounts and automated tools to run price experiments; the automated tools used by Instacart and its partners to adjust prices and discounts; Instacart’s price experiments; and Instacart’s efforts to comply with New York’s disclosure requirements.