AI Scandal: Popular Neural Networks Advise on Bypassing Gambling Addiction Protections and Promote Shadow Casinos

A joint investigation conducted by journalists from The Guardian and Investigate Europe has uncovered an alarming issue in the behaviour of modern artificial intelligence systems. It turned out that advanced AI assistants, such as Microsoft Copilot, Grok, Meta AI, ChatGPT, and Gemini, are not only tolerant toward gambling, but also provide direct instructions to vulnerable users on how to access illegal online casinos. In effect, neural networks are advising gambling addicts on how to bypass government restrictions.

As part of a large-scale experiment, journalists tested five of the most prominent chatbots available today. The result was absolute: every one of them willingly helped bypass the British national self-exclusion system GamStop, which was specifically created to protect players struggling with gambling addiction.

The algorithms showed remarkable creativity, offering various ways to evade restrictions:

• Gemini generated a detailed step-by-step guide explaining how to access shadow offshore platforms.
• Grok suggested using cryptocurrency transfers to avoid mandatory identity verification.
• Meta AI downplayed the issue entirely, calling GamStop's protective barriers "just a minor inconvenience" for real players.
• Microsoft Copilot helpfully produced a list of offshore gambling operators, describing them as "reliable."
• ChatGPT approached the task in a highly analytical way: the bot created a convenient comparison table of illegal casinos, evaluating them by withdrawal speed and the generosity of their bonus offers.

As a result, tools that were designed to help people are, in practice, acting as experienced underground consultants, undermining years of efforts aimed at combating gambling addiction.