Report warns that AI chatbots direct users to unlicensed gambling operators

ChatGPT, Gemini and MetaAI are promoting unlicensed online casinos as ways to gamble anonymously and bypass self-exclusion schemes.

Germany.- Tackling unlicensed gambling offerings in Google search results or ads on platforms like Facebook has been a priority for many regulators, but now they have another challenge. An investigative report has found that widely used AI-powered chatbots frequently direct users towards offshore casinos operating without national licences.

Berlin-based Investigate Europe tested leading AI chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini across 10 European countries over a period of two weeks. When asked for information about the “best bonuses” or ways to bypass self-exclusion schemes, the chatbots often pointed users to unregulated gambling operators.

Out of 30 prompts tested per platform in each country, MetaAI recommended unlicensed casinos 27 times, Gemini 26 times, and ChatGPT 22 times. In country-specific tests, France and Poland each produced 18 recommendations while the UK produced 14.

Some of the recommended sites feature on regulatory blacklists, and some of the chatbots’ responses even praised features like fast withdrawals, anonymity and generous bonus offers.

When asked about avoiding national self-exclusion systems like Gamstop in Britain, the AI chatbots frequently suggested casinos not covered by these schemes. One even described “no-ID casinos” as the “Holy Grail,” promoting platforms that bypass identity checks. Cryptocurrency casinos were also recommended for their “anonymity” and “lack of rigid limits.”

Much of the content appeared to draw from marketing material from operators based in jurisdictions such as Curaçao.

The probe highlights growing risks tied to generative AI in regulated industries such as gambling. The researchers raised concerns of a “routing problem” through which users seeking guidance from AI assistants may be steered outside consumer protection frameworks.

Regulators and addiction charities have voiced concern that AI tools could unintentionally facilitate access to unlicensed gambling. Tiemo Wölken, the German MEP who played a role in shaping the European Union’s Digital Services Act, told Investigate Europe: “These worrying results demonstrate some of the emerging risks associated with AI chatbots. They can become supercharged search engines, but without the well-established safeguards of traditional online search.”