Blumenthal expands congressional probe into AI and VIP practices at sportsbooks and prediction markets
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) escalated a congressional investigation Thursday into gambling operators' use of artificial intelligence and VIP customer programs. Blumenthal, Sen. Paul Tonko, and Rep. Valerie Foushee sent letters to BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics, Kalshi, and Polymarket. Responses are due by mid-November. The lawmakers pressed both traditional sportsbooks and prediction market platforms on whether VIP programs fuel gambling addiction.
Congress now treats prediction markets as gambling operators on the same oversight plane as DraftKings and Fanatics. Kalshi and Polymarket must answer the same VIP-program questions that have reshaped sportsbook compliance, exposing their high-value customer data to Capitol Hill scrutiny. The letters demand AI-deployment details too, probing whether algorithmic targeting amplifies risky trading behavior on prediction markets as it has on sportsbooks.
Both platforms face a mid-November deadline that forces internal review of practices they have never had to disclose federally. Traditional sportsbooks have spent years building responsible-gaming departments to survive this spotlight; prediction markets lack that infrastructure. The probe invites legislation that could impose sportsbook-style deposit limits or loss thresholds on event-contract trading.