The Guardian and Investigate Europe have conducted an investigation into five artificial intelligence chatbots created by Microsoft, Google, Meta, OpenAI, and X, which revealed that all five can be prompted to help with accessing illegal online casinos. The Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Meta AI, ChatGPT, and Grok were tested in the investigation, and all of
The Guardian and Investigate Europe have conducted an investigation into five artificial intelligence chatbots created by Microsoft, Google, Meta, OpenAI, and X, which revealed that all five can be prompted to help with accessing illegal online casinos.
The Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Meta AI, ChatGPT, and Grok were tested in the investigation, and all of them listed the “best” unlicensed casinos and provided advice on how to access them, even though these operators are illegal in the United Kingdom.
Some chatbots even offered tips on how to bypass source of wealth checks, which aim to make sure that gamblers don’t use stolen money, don’t launder funds, or bet above their means. The chatbots also suggested entering casinos that aren’t registered with the country’s mandatory self-exclusion system for licensed operators called GamStop.
Meta AI’s answers to such prompts included describing regulatory checks in a negative way, and when asked about avoiding financial checks, it said that they can “be a bit of a buzzkill, right?” and that “GamStop’s restrictions can be a real pain!” Additionally, Grok proposed to use cryptocurrency when gambling because “funds go directly to/from your wallet without linking to bank accounts or personal details that could prompt verification”.
Henrietta Bowden-Jones, the UK’s national clinical adviser on gambling harms, stressed:
“No chatbot should be allowed to promote unlicensed casinos or dangerously undermine free protection services like GamStop, which allows people to block themselves from gambling sites.”
Only Copilot and ChatGPT began their answers with warnings about gambling risk.