DraftKings Uses AI Model to Target Frequent Losing Bettors, NYT Reports
According to a New York Times report cited by EFF, DraftKings trains a machine learning model on customer betting histories to identify gamblers likely to keep losing money. The company then sends these identified users targeted promotions designed to draw them back onto the platform to place more bets.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
EFF argues this represents an intensified form of behavioral advertising, where AI's ability to process vast troves of personal data lets companies pinpoint and re-engage financially vulnerable users more precisely than before. Because AI models function as black boxes, the group suggests firms may be incentivized to collect ever more personal data without fully understanding which inputs drive results, deepening privacy and ethical concerns around targeting people described as problem gamblers.
- DraftKings reportedly uses AI trained on betting records to identify likely losing gamblers.
- Identified users are sent targeted promotions to encourage continued betting, per the New York Times.
- EFF says AI amplifies existing harms of behavioral advertising and has called for banning such advertising altogether.
Source: eff.org — Devanshi Nishar, 2026-09-29
Published there as: “DraftKings Is Using AI to Behaviorally Target Chronic Gamblers”
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