Fintech company Yaspa on Monday announced it has become a founding member of the new AI Research Hub (AiR Hub) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas International Gaming Institute.
The UNLV International Gaming Institute established the AiR Hub to advance the industry’s understanding of the effects, risks, and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. Co-founded by UNLV IGI Director of Research Kasra Ghaharian and IGI Adjunct Fellow Simo Dragicevic, the initiative serves as a collaborative ecosystem designed to accelerate the adoption of trusted, responsible AI across the global gaming sector.
“Fintech and AI are two of the most transformative technologies in the world today, and their impact on the gaming industry will undoubtedly continue to be profound,” Ghaharian said. “The richness of this data provides intriguing potential across the value chain, particularly regarding consumer protection and compliance. I am excited to see how we can help drive thought leadership for the industry at the intersection of these two technologies.”
Yaspa joins a group of founding members, including Aristocrat, Evoke, Playtech, and the Responsible Online Gaming Association. The coalition is tasked with ensuring that AI development in the sector is grounded in cross-disciplinary expertise.
“Joining AiR Hub as a founding member reflects Yaspa’s commitment to leveraging the synergy between AI and open banking data to drive a more sustainable gambling ecosystem,” said Yaspa Vice President of Product Max Collinge. “By utilizing deep financial insights through AI-driven analysis, we can deliver significantly better outcomes for players and operators alike. I am personally thrilled to join the Advisory Panel to help shape this next phase of collaboration and ensure research leads to practical, responsible innovation.”
AiR Hub’s flagship project is the State of AI in Gaming report, an annual study indexing company AI maturity, as well as tracking regulatory and policy developments. Through this and related projects, AiR Hub seeks to drive innovation and help ensure AI-driven systems are governed appropriately within the highly regulated industry.
As a founding member, Yaspa brings its in-house AI expertise to guide the Hub’s research initiatives, drawing from its experience in developing the technology behind its Intelligent Payments platform and proprietary machine learning categorizer.
Collinge will join the AiR Hub Advisory Panel. Panel members help steer the Hub’s initiatives, ensuring they maintain deep industry relevance.
“Yaspa is building the industry’s open banking orchestration layer for player insights and risk assessment,” said Dragicevic. “Their expertise in payments, technology and risk will add significant value to the AiR Hub Advisory Panel and we look forward to collaborating with Yaspa as we execute our mission to develop the industry’s ecosystem for collaborative AI research.”
