New York Advances Rules Restricting AI-Driven Betting Promotions
The New York State Gaming Commission unanimously advanced a revised proposal this month that would sharply restrict how the state's licensed mobile sportsbooks can use artificial intelligence, alongside a separate proposal pushing operators to share data on at-risk bettors across the market.
What the AI proposal would and wouldn't do
The rule wouldn't ban AI outright. Instead, it would bar sportsbooks, their affiliates, and their vendors from using AI, algorithmic profiling, or machine-learning tools to analyze customer data in order to personalize promotions, bonuses, odds, betting limits, or marketing messages. It would also stop operators from using these tools to recommend specific wagers, bet types, or amounts, or to build promotions designed specifically to increase a customer's spending or engagement. The restrictions wouldn't apply to customers who affirmatively opt in, and parimutuel horse racing is exempted. New York's version is modeled on a similar measure already in place in New Jersey. The proposal still needs to go through additional public comment before any final vote.
A separate push on shared problem-gambling data
The commission also advanced a related proposal requiring licensees to identify patrons showing signs of problem gambling and designate a specific person to engage with those customers. Commission chair Brian O'Dwyer raised a structural concern driving the push: a customer restricted or self-excluded at one of New York's nine licensed mobile operators can currently keep betting uninterrupted at any of the others. "The industry is on notice by me and this commission that they need to solve this problem," O'Dwyer said, adding that if operators don't address it, "we will address it, and they may not like it or the solution we come up with." Joe Maloney, president of the Sports Betting Alliance trade group, said the group would continue working with regulators, noting the regulated market has ended the illegal market's "monopoly" and now generates more than $1 billion a year in New York tax revenue.
Why it matters to bettors
Both proposals trace back to a responsible-gambling package Governor Kathy Hochul outlined in her March 2026 State of the State agenda, targeting underage gambling and marketing to at-risk customers. No vote date has been set for either rule, and both face further public comment first. For bettors in New York, the practical effect — if adopted — would be fewer AI-personalized offers and bet suggestions inside sportsbook apps, plus the possibility that a self-exclusion or restriction at one operator eventually carries over to others in the state, depending on how any shared-data system the industry builds is ultimately structured.