DraftKings sued in Massachusetts over AI-targeted gambling promotions

A proposed class action in Massachusetts says DraftKings used artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify customers more likely to keep betting, then pushed gambling promotions at them. For high-risk operators and their PSPs, the point is straightforward: if the platform is using customer data to steer incentives, disclosure and regulatory scrutiny become part of the payments conversation too.

1. West Virginia resident Daniel Vest filed the case in the U.S. District Court in Boston. He says he lost thousands of dollars while gambling with DraftKings over several years and received at least 70 promotional emails, text messages and other communications in one month urging him to continue betting.
2. The complaint says DraftKings used AI systems to flag customers who were more likely to respond to gambling promotions and keep betting. Vest is seeking to represent other customers who he says were identified by those systems as likely to respond to incentives.
3. Vest alleges DraftKings violated Massachusetts law by not telling customers that it was using AI to target them with gambling promotions. DraftKings denies the claims and says it does not use AI to target customers based on their losses or indicators of potential problem gambling.
4. The lawsuit follows a New York Times investigation that reported DraftKings used machine learning to analyse betting data and identify customers more likely to continue gambling and lose money after receiving promotions.
5. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) said it will examine how DraftKings and other licensed sportsbooks use artificial intelligence. MGC Chairman Jordan Maynard said on September 24 that the commission would first engage with DraftKings to clarify practices cited by the New York Times.

For licensed sportsbooks, the useful detail here is not the PR angle; it is the regulatory one. If AI is being used to drive retention, jurisdictions can start asking not just what the model does, but what customers were told about it and how those practices fit local gambling rules.