It’s getting harder to pinpoint the exact moment when genuine excitement about a new technology tips into hype, and finally into something absurd. But I’m fairly certain we’re approaching that threshold when a sandwich chain—whose most famous mascot is Danny DeVito—feels compelled to talk about artificial intelligence in its IPO paperwork.
Welcome to Jersey Mike’s public offering.
In 2026, investor appetite for all things AI remains insatiable, and companies across sectors are eager to sprinkle AI buzzwords into their pitches. This phenomenon isn’t limited to tech startups: from esports companies raising venture capital to Bending Spoons’ S-1—a firm that rejuvenates aging, non-AI tech products—the pattern is the same. But Jersey Mike’s? A submarine sandwich shop?
I decided to check their S-1 filing with the SEC, curious to see how far this compulsion might go. Surely a chain of sandwich stores would have no reason to mention AI. But there it was: the terms “artificial intelligence” and “AI” appeared 22 times in the document.
The company isn’t selling AI software—it sells footlong subs. Yet AI is what investors are supposedly hungry for (bad pun intended). Even more amusing is where AI shows up: buried in the risk factors section. The company offers no concrete explanation of how it uses AI that could endanger investors, beyond a vague statement: “We are beginning to use AI Technologies in our business.”
To be fair, as a franchisor, Jersey Mike’s relies heavily on software (mentioned 52 times) and data (112 mentions)—as many businesses do. Their AI risk warning reads like boilerplate, perhaps even prudent given recent debacles in the food industry. For example, Starbucks quietly scrapped an AI inventory tool that miscounted stock and slowed down baristas. So, yes, AI can go wrong.
Still, I’m willing to bet that the risk of an AI disaster at a company that produces real sandwiches—not AI-generated content—is roughly comparable to a franchise location being struck by lightning. Which, coincidentally, did happen to a Jersey Mike’s in Texas in 2021. Yet “weather” got only five mentions in the S-1. “Lightning”? Zero.
via TechCrunch AI