Maine Is Monitoring DraftKings After NYT Report on AI Use to Keep Gamblers Playing Longer

Maine’s Gambling Control Unit is now actively monitoring DraftKings after a New York Times report alleged the company used AI technology to encourage players to keep wagering longer. For PSPs, the point is not the headline drama; it is that regulators are starting to look at how data models, promotions, and player-behavior analysis intersect.

1. The New York Times report said DraftKings allegedly used AI and a concept it called “elasticity” to identify players who might be more likely to spend more and stay on the platform longer. The report suggested this could have been used to target users based on how they respond to such prompts.
2. DraftKings denied the allegations, saying the article relied on accounts from now-former employees and that the company was using standard business practices. A spokesperson also said: “DraftKings does not use AI to target anyone based on losses and does not market to customers based on indicators of potential problem gaming.”
3. The matter has already moved beyond media coverage. DraftKings is facing a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts, filed by a West Virginia-based gambler who is seeking class-action status. Massachusetts regulators have also opened an investigation into the company, according to CBS13 I-Team.
4. Maine’s Gambling Control Unit said it is “monitoring the use of AI locally and nationally,” while adding that there are no Maine laws or rules specifically addressing its use at this point. That is the part compliance teams will notice: the regulator is watching first, and writing rules later.
5. The wider reaction is not limited to Maine and Massachusetts. The report has prompted closer scrutiny of AI in promotions and player-behavior analysis across sports gambling platforms, and Maryland’s governor has called for an end to practices involving “algorithmic and other means” that target users likely to spend more.

For high-risk operators, the practical takeaway is simple enough: once AI is linked to player targeting, the discussion stops being about marketing optimization and starts looking like consumer-protection supervision.