MEP David Casa urges gambling operators to invest in staff before replacing roles with AI

Maltese MEP David Casa, of the Nationalist Party and the EPP group, has called on gambling operators to put their workforces first before using artificial intelligence to reduce costs. Speaking in a keynote at the SiGMA World conference in Rome on Wednesday, and later to iGB, he said reports of gaming employees losing their jobs to AI deserve attention.

Casa said Europe should make use of AI to save time, detect fraud and support staff, but argued the human cost of automation cannot be overlooked. He asked operators to consider how roles might evolve instead of simply being removed, and to provide training before skilled people are lost. In his view, experienced teams can recognise when something has gone wrong, when a player needs help and when a decision requires a human. He said the gains from AI should reach the people whose work makes it possible.

His remarks come during a period of job cuts in the sector. Flutter announced last month that it would cut up to 1,400 roles in its UK&I division, blaming the sharp increase in UK remote gambling taxes. BDO corporate finance director Ollie Woodward said AI automation may also have contributed, as operators deploy it in coding, customer support and CRM. Gambling.com Group announced an AI-led restructuring in May to cut its workforce by 25% and save $13m a year. Former FanDuel employees have also linked cuts there to AI adoption, alongside prediction markets and economic uncertainty.

The debate has reached Malta too. A former iGaming designer told Times of Malta they lost their job after helping train an AI system, though the claim has not been independently verified. GamingMalta disputes reports of widespread AI-driven layoffs and says talent is being redeployed. The real scale of AI's impact remains hard to measure.

Beyond AI, Casa called for more common standards across Europe's fragmented gambling markets, saying the single market can feel like a maze for cross-border firms. He said a licence must mean something, and that licensed operators should not bear compliance costs while illegal sites reach the same players with little fear of enforcement. He urged closer cooperation between public authorities, banks and online platforms.

Casa also restated his opposition to a proposed EU-level gambling tax, warning it could drive investment away, put jobs at risk and make illegal sites more attractive. He did not address Article 56A of Malta's Gaming Act, known as Bill 55, which is subject to European Commission infringement proceedings.