The New York State Gaming Commission has unanimously advanced proposals to restrict artificial intelligence in mobile sports betting and require operators to identify and engage potentially at-risk customers. The measures could reshape how licensed sportsbooks use player data and intervene when gambling behavior raises concerns, but they are not final rules and remain subject to further public comment.
CDC Gaming and ProPublica reported on the Commission’s action. Regulators have not set a date for a final vote, leaving operators to assess proposals whose scope and implementation could still change.
Limits on personalized betting prompts
The revised AI proposal would restrict sportsbooks, their affiliates and vendors from using artificial intelligence, machine learning, algorithmic profiling, automated-decision systems or generative systems to analyze customer data and personalize promotions, bonuses, odds, betting limits, messages and product recommendations. The rules would also bar operators from suggesting particular wagers, wager types or amounts, and from using promotions to drive spending, revenue or engagement.
The proposal would not apply to customers who consent, and parimutuel horse racing would be exempt. Those carve-outs, alongside the range of technologies and marketing practices covered, will be important as the text moves through additional comment and potential revision.
A separate proposal would require licensees to identify patrons who may be at risk of problem-gambling behavior and designate a person to engage them about gambling-related behaviors and issues. The approach puts a formal human intervention into the proposed process, rather than relying solely on automated account monitoring or general responsible-gambling messaging. Debate over the limits of existing responsible-gambling approaches has brought renewed attention to how operators identify and respond to risk.
Cross-operator data is a central concern
Commission Chairman Brian O’Dwyer has raised the possibility that a customer restricted by one sportsbook could simply move to another licensed operator. He said the proposals give the industry an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to responsible gaming by working together to share data that could help prevent that kind of movement from defeating an intervention.
O’Dwyer also made clear that regulators expect the industry to address the issue and may develop their own solution if operators do not. The proposals do not yet spell out how data-sharing would work across companies, making that a consequential operational question for the consultation and any eventual rulemaking.
ProPublica’s reporting described weaknesses in existing safeguards, while the Commission’s action adds New York to the jurisdictions considering tighter controls on online betting practices. Separately, the state’s scrutiny of prediction-market operators reflects a wider compliance environment for companies offering gambling-related products in New York.
Operators await the final scope
Joe Maloney, president of the Sports Betting Alliance, said the group continues to work with regulators on proposals intended to strengthen New York’s regulated market. He said New Yorkers aged 21 and older have been able to wager legally since 2022 through licensed operators subject to oversight on consumer protection, responsibility and integrity.
Maloney also credited the regulated framework with ending the illegal market’s monopoly and said licensed operators now generate more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue. Those are industry claims; the compliance changes under consideration would apply across a market in which mobile sports wagering gross gaming revenue is taxed at 51%.
New York has authorized nine mobile sportsbook operators: Bally Bet, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, Resorts World Bet, Rush Street Interactive and theScore Bet. Any cross-operator process would therefore need to address coordination among the full licensed field, while accounting for data handling and customer-consent provisions in the final rules.
The proposals form part of Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2026 State of the State program, announced in March, which included efforts addressing underage gambling, marketing to at-risk customers and gambling addiction. New York’s AI measure draws on a similar New Jersey regulation; the proposal restricts specified uses of AI rather than banning the technology outright.
The Commission says the revised AI rules will receive further public comment before returning for discussion and a possible vote. Until then, the boundaries around automated systems, profiling, personalization and customer consent remain open to review, as does the practical question of how operators could share relevant data. With no final-vote date set, sportsbooks have no settled rule text to implement yet-but the eventual requirements could affect both marketing workflows and player-protection operations.
As AI becomes more visible across gambling-related products, including AI responses incorporating prediction-market odds, regulators and operators will also have to determine where personalization ends and a prohibited wagering prompt begins. New York’s next steps will establish whether the proposals can translate that distinction into workable licensing obligations.
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