Maine Is Monitoring DraftKings Over NYT Report Alleging AI Is Used to Keep Gamblers Playing More

Gambling regulators in Maine are now actively monitoring DraftKings, one of America’s largest sports betting companies, after a report by The New York Times suggests that the company has been using AI technology to keep people playing more. NYT Report Continues to Get DraftKings in Trouble Across the Nation The company allegedly coined the term “elasticity” to refer to players who may be incentivized to spend more and use the platform longer. The report suggests that this may have been used to target players specifically based on how likely they are to respond positively to such stimuli. While interpretations of the events abounded, including the “targeting of vulnerable consumers,” DraftKings firmly denied the surmise put forward by the media. In fact, DraftKings argued that The New York Times article was based on the accounts of now-former employees and that the company resorted to standard business practices. “DraftKings does not use AI to target anyone based on losses and does not market to customers based on indicators of potential problem gaming,” a spokesperson said at the time when the report was published. AI was never used to target vulnerable consumers, the company firmly responded to public accusations to the contrary. In the meantime, DraftKings has been hit with a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts. A West Virginia-based gambler has filed a complaint, seeking to raise it to a class-action lawsuit. Maine is now also looking into the matter, although there has been no formal characterization of the company’s actions on the part of supervisory bodies. Massachusetts regulators have, however, opened an investigation into the company, as per a report by CBS13 I-Team. Maine’s Gambling Control Unit has further released a statement to the media in which it detailed the action that has been taken: “The Gambling Control Unit is monitoring the use of AI locally and nationally, but at this point there are no Maine laws or rules specifically addressing its use.” Multiple Regulators Take Notice of the Report, Act The report and subsequent investigation may not prove any wrongdoing on the part of DraftKings per se, but it has called for more scrutiny of the technology and specifically how it is applied to crucial areas such as promotions and analyzing player behavior on sports gambling platforms. Long-hailed as the basis of better protecting consumers in gambling, critics have repeatedly raised concerns that the technology may be used in the exact opposite way. Closer scrutiny in Maine and Massachusetts is not isolated, with the governor of Maryland calling for an end to practices that involve “algorithmic and other means” and target users who are likely to spend more.