MGA Opens AI Gaming Charter Consultation For Gambling Operators

AI tools already help gambling companies manage fraud checks, customer contact, marketing, safer gambling alerts, and compliance work. Malta now wants that use to come with clearer guardrails.

Good to Know

• The MGA draft charter focuses on responsible AI use in gambling.
• The framework is voluntary and does not replace existing law.
• Operators, suppliers, and compliance teams can comment during the consultation.

The Malta Gaming Authority has opened public consultation on a proposed AI Gaming Charter, built with the Malta Digital Innovation Authority. The draft gives gambling operators sector-specific guidance on artificial intelligence without turning it into a new legal code.

MGA Wants Clearer Rules Around Automated Decisions

The charter puts heavy focus on accountability. AI can help operators review data and support decisions, but the MGA wants human review kept in critical areas. That includes decisions tied to customers, compliance, and responsible gaming.

Transparency also runs through the draft. Operators should be able to explain how AI systems affect important outcomes. That point becomes more relevant as gambling companies use automated tools for player risk checks, fraud controls, support chat, marketing, and data analysis.

The MGA also points to personal data. AI systems often need large customer datasets, so operators must keep privacy protections in place and follow existing data rules.

Another key piece sits with outside suppliers. Many operators rely on third-party software, so the proposed charter asks companies to check that vendor AI systems meet proper technical, ethical, and regulatory standards.

The draft also calls for regular testing. Operators should monitor algorithms for errors, bias, poor performance, unintended results, or discriminatory patterns, then fix problems when needed.

MGA Chief Executive Officer Charles Mizzi previously said AI tools already see wide use among Malta-licensed operators and businesses in other jurisdictions. He also said clearer guidance can help the sector use AI in a more responsible and transparent way.

The charter also lines up with the European Union AI Act, which uses a risk-based system for artificial intelligence. That EU framework sets duties for certain AI developers, providers, and deployers, with focus on transparency, accountability, and consumer safeguards.

Malta has often used consultation when technology develops faster than formal regulation. Here, feedback from operators, compliance professionals, suppliers, and other gaming sector participants will help shape the final version.

The consultation may also give other gambling regulators a useful early view of AI oversight. Operators already use AI in more parts of their business, but long-term compliance expectations still need clearer shape.