Washington, DC – The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led by Chairman James Comer, announced today an investigation into the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and personal data by companies to conduct surveillance pricing of consumers on the prices of goods and services. The Committee sent letters to Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, Uber, Lyft, and Instacart, requesting documents and information to better understand the pricing practices of these companies. Consumer Reports applauded the announcement of this investigation and issued the following statement.
“Chairman Comer’s investigation should shine a light on how companies are using AI and personal data to conduct surveillance pricing on unsuspecting consumers,” said Grace Gedye, senior AI policy analyst for Consumer Reports. “Our personal data shouldn’t be used against us to figure out the most we are willing to pay at check out. As our Instacart investigation showed, corporations are secretly conducting AI-driven pricing experiments on consumers, making it difficult to make informed purchasing decisions. We welcome this investigation and look forward to working with the Committee to address surveillance pricing.”
In December 2025, CR, along with partners Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union, published an investigation into Instacart’s pricing tactics. CR had nearly 400 consumers shop for the same basket of goods at the same time. Analysis of the shopping data found that consumers were paying different prices for the same products from the same store at the same time. The investigation found that Instacart’s algorithmic pricing experiments could result in price differences as high as 23% for certain products and could cost families more than $1,200 a year at checkout. Soon after, Instacart announced in a company blog post that it would end the program that resulted in different shoppers being shown different prices for groceries on its platform.
Following the publication of the Instacart investigation, federal legislation such as the “One Fair Price Act” has been introduced to prevent companies from using consumers’ personal data to set individualized prices. Several states are also considering bans on the practice during the 2026 legislative session, including California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Illinois, Minnesota, and Tennessee.
Contact: cyrus.rassool@consumer.org