Michigan’s gambling regulator is reviewing concerns raised by reporting on DraftKings’ use of AI-driven promotions and its VIP program. That is not the same as announcing an investigation of the company: the Michigan Gaming Control Board told Legal Sports Report it would not say whether it is examining any particular licensee.
The underlying investigations ask whether a sportsbook’s customer data can be used to recognize risky play and, instead of interrupting it, offer incentives to keep the customer betting. The New York Times reported on promotions aimed at losing customers. ProPublica reported that DraftKings invited its reporter into the VIP program after he deliberately bet like a problem gambler for ten weeks. Those findings are the work of the original investigations; the new development is Michigan’s response to them.
Michigan requires licensed operators to provide self-exclusion, player-set deposit and wagering limits, limits on playing time, and links to problem-gambling help. But, as Legal Sports Report notes, neither its gaming statutes nor its rules specifically address AI or machine learning. The question for regulators is whether existing player-protection duties reach the way operators select and time individualized offers, not merely whether a limits menu exists in the app.
Massachusetts has said it will review all its licensed operators’ use of AI in promotions, and its regulations expressly bar systems known or reasonably expected to make a platform more addictive. Michigan has not described a comparable operator-wide review or reached a finding against DraftKings. For people at risk of gambling harm, the distinction matters: a tool that lets a customer set a limit offers less protection if the same platform is optimizing its contact with customers who keep losing.