The Price is Rigged

December 16, 2025

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

The Format: This episode of NPR's Today Explained blends host-led interviews with investigative breakdowns, centering on AI-fueled surveillance pricing in retail and airlines, delivering a probing and urgent tone that exposes corporate tactics harming consumers.
The Format: Interview.
The Key Players:
- Derek Kravitz: Investigative journalist at Consumer Reports, notable for leading a nationwide experiment revealing Instacart's AI-driven price manipulation.
- Alfred Ng: Tech policy reporter at Politico, providing insider updates on FTC probes and stalled federal legislation.
- Noelle King: Host steering sharp, skeptical questions that amplify consumer outrage.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Derek Kravitz, investigative journalist at Consumer Reports**
2 (02:16) **Consumer Reports Investigation into Instacart's AI Pricing**
3 (04:59) **How Algorithmic Pricing Works**
4 (06:15) **Instacart's Response and CR Counterfindings**
5 (07:48) **Surveillance Pricing Beyond Instacart**
6 (09:07) **Legality and Regulation of Surveillance Pricing**
7 (10:20) **Potential Benefits vs. Discrimination Risks**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Instacart is using customer data to charge different prices for the exact same products. It's called surveillance pricing, and it means you could be paying more based on who you are.

This episode was produced by Miles Bryan and Dustin DeSoto, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King.

The Instacart delivery bear in Minneapolis. Photo By Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images.

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