Kalshi Caught Using AI To Change YouTuber’s Face In Ad Without Permission

Kalshi Used AI To Turn A Creator Into A Different Person

A YouTube creator discovered that Kalshi had taken one of his videos, used AI to alter his appearance and turned the edited footage into an advertisement without his permission or payment.

The prediction market platform is now facing criticism over the use of AI to replace the faces of Asian creators with white men, raising fresh concerns about companies using generative AI to produce cheaper advertising.

Kalshi Used AI To Turn A Creator Into A Different Person

YouTuber Elliot Choy discovered the advert after it appeared on YouTube, despite having originally uploaded the source video about moving into a new apartment in New York City in September 2025.

The advert closely followed Choy’s original footage, including the setting, computer and books visible in the background, but AI had altered his appearance so that he appeared to be a white man.

Choy shared side-by-side images of the original and advert on X, writing:

“i guess kalshi saw this and thought they should steal my video, turn me into a white dude, and run it as an ad”.

The discovery came just hours after Stanford University faced criticism over an edited campus photograph in which AI was used to replace students with people who were not originally in the image.

Kalshi Ad Was Made By An Outside Agency

NPR correspondent Bobby Allyn confirmed that the Kalshi advert was genuine.

A Kalshi spokesperson told Business Insider that the advert was around four months old and had been produced by an outside agency.

The company said it no longer uses AI-generated content depicting people and is reviewing its relationship with the agency.

Kalshi declined to identify the agency responsible for the advert.

The company also faces questions over how many other creators may have had their videos used in similar campaigns and whether those creators were contacted or compensated.

Another Creator Says Kalshi Used His Video Too

Choy was not the only creator to accuse Kalshi of using his content without permission.

Toronto-based creator Pushpek Sidhu said in June that someone claiming to represent Kalshi had contacted him about a possible collaboration, but the communication stopped.

Sidhu later said he saw a Kalshi advert while in Houston for a World Cup match that appeared to recreate one of his videos almost exactly.

The advert featured a different young man delivering a similar script and using similar gestures, while Sidhu said he had also been replaced by a white man.

Sidhu told Business Insider,

“They could easily pay me a little bit.”

In these cases, the creators said they were not paid for the use of their content.

AI Ads Are Making It Easier To Copy Real Creators

The controversy comes as advertisers increasingly use generative AI to reduce production costs, while creators and consumers question how far companies can go when reproducing real people's work and likenesses.

Zohaib Ahmed, CEO of deepfake-tracking company Resemble AI, told Business Insider that generative AI is now appearing in advertising across many industries.

He said the Kalshi advert could have been produced from a single image or thumbnail before another person's face was digitally substituted.

While the legal position can be unclear, Ahmed said the ethical issue is more straightforward.

The technique has also appeared beyond mainstream advertising.

Bobby Allyn reported in July 2025 that TikTok videos had been using deepfake technology to copy existing user-generated content, with some gaining tens of millions of views.

University of California digital forensics expert Hany Farid said at the time that such content was “super-easy to do with today’s AI tools” and could slip through content moderation systems.

Kalshi Previously Promoted Its Use Of Generative AI

Kalshi has used generative AI in its advertising before.

The company previously produced an AI-generated advert for the NBA Finals that it said cost just $2,000 to create.

More recently, however, Kalshi has sought to reduce its reliance on AI-generated advertising as criticism of AI-made content has grown.

Kalshi head of growth Keaton Inglis told Ad Age earlier this month: “I saw pretty much every brand under the sun use AI,” adding that he had moved the company towards being “as human… as possible going forward.”

The discovery of adverts that allegedly used AI to recreate real creators without their consent has put that approach under scrutiny, particularly as Kalshi works with high-profile names including actor Timothée Chalamet and Oscar-winning cinematographers.