Jersey Mike's IPO mentions AI 22 times despite selling sandwiches

What happened

Jersey Mike's, a sandwich restaurant chain, mentioned artificial intelligence and the acronym "AI" 22 times in its IPO documents filed with investors, even though the company sells submarine sandwiches, not AI products. The company included AI in its risk warnings to investors, stating "We are beginning to use AI Technologies in our business," without explaining what specific dangers it posed.

Why it matters

The article suggests this reflects broader investor demand for AI-related language in business filings. Even companies with little to no AI business feel pressure to mention AI in their pitches and legal documents. The author notes this mirrors a real business risk—Starbucks rolled out a half-baked AI inventory tool that couldn't count and was recently scrapped—but argues Jersey Mike's actual AI risk is roughly equivalent to the odds of being struck by lightning, which was mentioned only five times in the S-1.

What to watch

The disconnect between hype and reality. Jersey Mike's does use software (mentioned 52 times) and data (112 mentions) for franchise operations, which may genuinely require some AI-assisted tools, but the author frames the 22 mentions of AI as disproportionate to the actual business risk the company faces.