A new UNLV report on artificial intelligence in the gaming industry says that one in five companies have a dedicated AI governance role, and most organizations have no established governance practices.
In what is intended to be an annually updated report, the UNLV International Gaming Institute published its first research on the use of artificial intelligence, saying that while most companies have no management practices, others are in the early stages of development.
The UNLV International Gaming Institute’s AI Research Hub (AiR Hub), in partnership with US-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 that tracks how AI is shaping the global gaming 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 research from 83 gaming companies and 113 regulators worldwide.
“Society is at an inflection point with AI, and until now there has been no rigorous, independent baseline to understand where the gaming industry stands,” Ghaharian said. “‘The State of AI in Gaming’ is designed to fill this gap, serving as an essential resource for operators, regulators, researchers and all stakeholders navigating the adoption, return on investment and responsible integration of AI within the gaming industry.”
The full report is available online.
“What the data shows is a clear gap between ambition and execution,” said Rick Arpin, the report’s editor and KPMG US Gaming leader. “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 with AI adoption than with the controls needed to manage it. Those who address this now will be better positioned to realize value and avoid unnecessary risk.”
Key findings
Among the most important findings in the report:
— Early maturity. With an average score of 45 out of 100 on the report’s AI Maturity Index, most gaming companies have strategic ambitions for AI, but infrastructure and expertise need to catch up to scale it.
— An administrative gap. Governance scored the lowest on the Maturity Index with just 30 out of 100.
— Generative AI Widespread, Agentic AI Lagging. While more than 80 percent of companies have adopted generative AI for tasks like content creation and insights, far fewer have moved to agent AI—systems that can autonomously plan, decide, and take action. The slower adoption may reflect the high stakes of gaming operations, where autonomous decision-making must carefully balance regulatory compliance, player safety and operational risk.
— Regulator-Industry Disconnect. Regulators and operators are at loggerheads over where AI is being used. Regulators report limited visibility into licensee AI activity and low confidence in their oversight capacity, while both sides agree that responsible AI practices across the industry remain underdeveloped.
— An accelerating innovation pipeline. Academic publications, patent applications, conference sessions and start-up activity around AI in gaming are all growing, signaling that the ecosystem is building momentum even as enterprise adoption remains uneven.
Ghaharian said UNLV is planning a pair of events to allow 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 review 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 of discussion at the UNLV International Gaming Institute’s Gambling and Risk-Taking Conference in May. Held every three years, the conference is a forum for gaming industry research and “The State of AI in Gaming” will be on the conference agenda on May 27.
Throughout the day, report authors, contributors, and industry and government 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 the Bellagio.
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