A new UNLV report on artificial intelligence in the gaming industry says one in five companies have a dedicated AI governance role, and most organizations have no established governance practices.

In what is targeted to be an annually updated report, the UNLV International Gaming Institute published its first research on the use of artificial intelligence and says while most companies have no governance practices, others are in the early stages of development.

The UNLV International Gaming Institute’s AI Research Hub (AiR Hub) in collaboration with U.S.-based audit, tax and financial advisory firm KPMG LLP, on Thursday released the 113-page “State of AI in Gaming 2026,” an annual global benchmarking series tracking how AI is shaping the global gambling industry.

Authored by Kasra Ghaharian, director of research for the UNLV International Gaming Institute, the report examines AI adoption across four dimensions: industry maturity, regulatory landscape, innovation pipeline, and responsible use by drawing on original survey research from 83 gambling companies and 113 regulators worldwide.

“Society is at an inflection point with AI, and until now there has been no rigorous, independent baseline for understanding where the gambling industry stands,” Ghaharian said. “’The State of AI in Gaming’ is designed to fill that gap, serving as an essential resource for operators, regulators, researchers and every stakeholder navigating the adoption, return on investment and responsible integration of AI within the gambling industry.”

The full report can be accessed online.

“What the data show is a clear gap between ambition and execution,” said Rick Arpin, the report’s executive editor and KPMG U.S. Gaming lead. “Governance is where that gap is most visible. With governance scoring just 30 out of 100 and most organizations lacking dedicated AI oversight, many companies are moving faster on AI adoption than on the controls needed to manage it. Those that address this now will be better positioned to realize value and avoid unnecessary risk.”

Key findings

Among the key findings of the report:

—Early-Stage Maturity. With an average score of 45 out of 100 on the report’s AI Maturity Index, most gambling companies have strategic ambitions for AI, but infrastructure and expertise need to catch up to scale it.

—A Governance Gap. Governance scored lowest on the Maturity Index at just 30 out of 100.

—Generative AI Widespread, Agentic AI Lagging. While more than 80 percent of companies have embraced generative AI for tasks like content creation and insights, far fewer have moved into agentic AI — systems that can independently plan, decide and take action. That slower adoption may reflect the high-stakes nature of gambling operations, where autonomous decision-making must carefully balance regulatory compliance, player safety and operational risk.

—Regulator-Industry Disconnect. Regulators and operators disagree significantly on where AI is being deployed. Regulators report limited visibility into licensee AI activity and low confidence in their oversight capabilities, while both sides agree that responsible AI practices across the industry remain underdeveloped.

—An Accelerating Innovation Pipeline. Academic publications, patent filings, conference sessions and startup activity around AI in gambling are all growing, signaling that the ecosystem is building momentum even as adoption within companies remains uneven.

Ghaharian said UNLV is planning a pair of events to enable industry leaders interested in the report’s findings to speak with authors, ask questions and provide feedback.

“The State of AI in Gaming” team will host a dedicated webinar to walk attendees through the report’s key findings, methodology and implications. Full details, including registration information, will be announced shortly and can be found online.

The report will also be a topic for discussion at the UNLV International Gaming Institute’s Gambling and Risk-Taking Conference in May. The conference, conducted every three years, is a forum for gaming industry research and “The State of AI in Gaming” will be on the conference’s May 27 agenda.

Across the day, report authors, contributors as well as industry and regulatory representatives will discuss the findings with sessions covering industry maturity, the regulatory landscape, responsible AI and the innovation pipeline. This year’s three-day event is May 26-28 at Bellagio.

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