--- title: "Kalshi Admits That It Took a Random Guy’s Video and Used AI to Make Him the Host of an Ad, Changing His Race in the Process" description: "YouTuber Elliott Choy found that one of his videos was turned into a race-swapped YouTube ad by prediction platform Kalshi." date: "2026-09-24" modified: "2026-09-24" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/kalshi-admits-random-guy-video-ai-race-swap-ad" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Kalshi Admits That It Took a Random Guy’s Video and Used AI to Make Him the Host of an Ad, Changing His Race in the Process ![A screenshot showing an AI-generated deepfake ad a YouTuber was served.]() *Elliott Choy via YouTube* As the public backlash to cheap AI-generated slop continues to grow, companies continue to insist on cutting costs by relying on the tech for their ads. Some are taking the trend to the extreme by creating deepfakes of videos uploaded by real influencers to market their products. Sleazy [gambling]() and [insider trading]() platform Kalshi is under fire after tech YouTuber Elliott Choy found that one of his videos had been turned into an ad that he was served on YouTube — a process that involved turning the Asian-American creator "into a white dude" that doesn't exist. It's a particularly egregious example that not only involves a company shamelessly stealing user-generated content, but whitewashing the subject in the video as well, all the while making them shill a product. As Choy notes, he made the discovery just hours after [Stanford University was caught using AI to swap out a student]() in a photo and replace him with a non-existent Black woman. Ironically, Choy has been [sharing ads for AI company Anthropic's Claude assistant](). The original video Kalshi ripped off was about Choy [moving into a new apartment in New York City]() and was originally uploaded in September of last year. *NPR* correspondent Bobby Allyn [has since confirmed]() that the offending Kalshi ad is very much real. A representative for the company told him that it's "old and that they no longer use AI-generated ads." The rep also said that it's "'reviewing our relationship with' the agency that made it." Plenty of questions remain. We still don't know which agency Kalshi contracted for the ad or how many influencers had their content ripped off by the company — or if the company intends to proactively make things right with other victims. Allyn [first noticed the trend in July of last year](). Videos on TikTok clone existing user-generated content using deepfake tech, racking up tens of millions of views. However, most of these videos were seemingly created by scammers — not by a mainstream company looking to generate ads. "It's the kind of thing that would be super-easy to do with today's AI tools and something that would easily slip through the content moderation cracks," University of California digital forensics expert Hany Farid told Allwyn at the time. Kalshi has been experimenting with generative AI for its marketing for quite some time. Last year, it [aired an AI slop ad for the NBA Finals]() that the company claimed cost just $2,000 to make — though it's debatable whether the company got its money's worth, judging by the result. Since then, as the backlash to AI slop has grown astronomically, the company has been actively trying to play the other side, hiring A-listers including the actor Timothée Chalamet and Oscar-winning cinematographers. "I saw pretty much every brand under the sun use AI," Kalshi’s head of growth Keaton Inglis [told *Ad Age*]() earlier this month. "And I transitioned us, going from being a leader in AI to as human... as possible going forward." Considering the company's offensive, race-swapping AI ads are being pushed on unsuspecting users on social media, that promise feels mightily disingenuous. **More on Kalshi:** [*Kalshi Just Issued Its First-Ever Lifetime Ban to the Funniest Person You Can Possibly Imagine*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()