A West Virginia man who says he wagered thousands of dollars a year on DraftKings for several years has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing the Boston-based sportsbook of using artificial intelligence to identify customers likely to lose money and then flooding them with promotions designed to keep them betting. Daniel Vest filed suit in Massachusetts federal court on September 30, alleging he received roughly 70 emails, texts and app notifications in the 30 days ending September 25 alone.
The lawsuit alleges DraftKings built an AI model that scored customers by how much they were likely to lose in response to targeted promotions, then classified some users as “elastic” and hit them with extra messages and incentives engineered to pull more money out of their pockets, according to the Boston Globe. Vest says he lost thousands of dollars gambling through the platform and was never told the company was using AI or machine learning to analyze his spending habits and typical losses, a practice the suit claims violates Massachusetts law. He is seeking to represent a nationwide class of DraftKings users allegedly flagged by the same model, as detailed by WCVB.
The complaint alleges the conduct amounts to both an unfair and deceptive practice and a breach of DraftKings’ contractual obligations, and it asks the court to certify a class action, award damages, order disgorgement of money allegedly obtained through the practices, and bar the company from using the AI model to push further gambling promotions. Vest describes the barrage of offers as an inundation that came as his losses mounted, per WCVB’s reporting.
Company Pushes Back on the Core Allegation
DraftKings disputes the characterization that it analyzed gamblers’ behavior and used AI-driven promotions to target them. The company told the New York Times, “DraftKings does not use A.I. to target anyone based on losses and does not market to customers based on indicators of potential problem gaming,” according to the New York Times. The company added that it “works diligently to comply with all Massachusetts sports betting regulations and vehemently denies the suggestion that we do anything to make our offerings addictive.”
DraftKings also told MassLive it plans to fight the claims head-on, stating, “We intend to vigorously defend any potential lawsuits on the matter.” The lawsuit, meanwhile, alleges the company used AI to target the most vulnerable gamblers rather than protect them — the central dispute now headed to federal court.
Earlier Reporting Describes the Model’s Origins
Behind the current lawsuit sits an earlier investigation describing how the technology came to exist. The New York Times reported that DraftKings built a machine-learning model in 2023 using customer betting records to identify people more likely to respond to promotions by gambling and losing more money, scoring each customer based on their habits. Six former employees told the paper the company kept refining those data-science methods to target losing gamblers with promotions meant to encourage more betting, while four other former employees said separate efforts to use similar technology to flag potential problem gamblers were stalled or scrapped.
One former employee described the resulting program as predatory, while another allegedly built a system meant to identify users trying to walk away from the platform so it could pull them back in. The company was reportedly spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually on promotional incentives sent through emails and phone alerts, and the same reporting in the NYT noted that its data science and analytics efforts helped improve margins on promotion-driven sports bets by 13 percent in 2025, according to MassLive’s account of the figures.
Regulators and Other Courts Are Watching
The scrutiny isn’t confined to one courtroom. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has said it will examine how DraftKings and other licensed betting companies operating in the state use artificial intelligence, a review that could eventually lead to new disclosure, marketing or responsible-gaming requirements, according to Bookmakers Review. Vest’s suit invokes Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A, which bars unfair or deceptive trade practices, along with the state’s sports-wagering advertising rules.
DraftKings is also facing similar claims elsewhere. A proposed class action filed in Pennsylvania in April alleges the company targeted users with gambling addictions through its invite-only VIP program and misleading promotions, the Globe reported. In New York, Dr. Kavita Fischer sued over the same VIP program, alleging that after she was upgraded she made 446 deposits totaling more than $208,000 and lost over $153,000 between late 2022 and April 2023, receiving incentives like casino credits, complimentary hockey tickets and DraftKings points, according to Front Office Sports. A separate class action in New Jersey accuses the company of deploying advertising practices meant to turn likely losers into addicts.
