Mindway AI, the Danish responsible gambling technology firm, is reassessing its approach to the United States after CEO Rasmus Kjaergaard acknowledged that progress in the market had lagged his expectations. Speaking to CDC Gaming, Kjaergaard pointed to the relative youth of US online gambling as a central reason for the slower-than-hoped adoption of behavioural risk-detection tools. His comments come as operators and regulators across several states sharpen their focus on player protection obligations.
The timing matters. Legal online betting in the US is less than a decade old in most jurisdictions, and the infrastructure around safer-gambling compliance is still being built out state by state.
What Mindway’s US Struggles Signal for Safer-Gambling Tech
Kjaergaard’s frank assessment offers a window into the commercial reality facing European responsible gambling vendors trying to establish themselves stateside. The takeaways below focus on where the business pressure actually sits.
- Market maturity dictates demand. A US online sector under ten years old has not yet developed the entrenched regulatory expectations that drove adoption of risk-detection tools across Europe.
- Patience is now part of the business model, not a sign of failure.
- Regulatory fragmentation raises the cost of entry. Selling into a state-by-state framework means repeating compliance conversations dozens of times, with no single federal standard to anchor them.
- First-mover positioning carries weight. Vendors that embed early stand to benefit as player-protection rules tighten, giving them a reference base before competitors arrive.
- What remains less clear is how quickly US operators will treat predictive tools as essential rather than optional.
A Young Market With Different Rules
Kjaergaard’s core argument rests on comparison. In European markets such as Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany, responsible gambling obligations have hardened over years of legislation, pushing operators toward automated systems that flag risky play before it escalates. The US arrived later, and it arrived differently.
Most American states that have legalised online betting did so only after the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Murphy v. NCAA, which struck down the federal ban on sports wagering. That ruling opened the door, but it left each state to write its own rulebook. The result: a patchwork of requirements where responsible gambling mandates vary widely in both scope and enforcement.
For a vendor selling predictive behavioural analytics, that patchwork is a sales obstacle. A tool that is effectively required in one jurisdiction may be purely discretionary in the next. And discretionary purchases, in a cost-conscious operator environment, tend to slide down the priority list.
Where the Technology Fits
Mindway AI built its reputation on a model that mimics the assessment process of a trained psychologist, scoring player behaviour across multiple risk markers rather than relying on single triggers like deposit limits. The company’s player risk-detection and behavioural analytics platform is designed to identify problem gambling patterns early, giving operators the chance to intervene before harm compounds.
That approach has found more fertile ground in regulated European markets, where supervisory authorities increasingly expect operators to demonstrate proactive duty-of-care measures. In the US, the expectation is still forming.
The distinction is not academic. An operator that adopts predictive monitoring voluntarily is making a bet on where regulation is heading. An operator that adopts it under legal obligation is simply complying. Those are two very different sales conversations, and Mindway has spent most of its US effort having the harder one.
The Competitive and Regulatory Backdrop
Safer-gambling technology has become a crowded field. Vendors offering affordability checks, self-exclusion management, and AI-driven intervention tools are all competing for operator budgets at a moment when those budgets face scrutiny from marketing costs, taxation, and state licensing fees.
Regulators are not standing still. Several state gaming authorities have signalled interest in tightening responsible gambling standards, and advocacy groups continue to press for mandatory monitoring requirements rather than voluntary codes. Whether those signals translate into binding rules will shape the addressable market for firms like Mindway.
| Factor | European Markets | US Markets |
|---|---|---|
| Market age | Two decades or more of regulated online activity | Under 10 years in most states, following the 2018 Murphy ruling that handed each state its own regulatory authority |
| Responsible gambling mandates | Often legally required | Largely voluntary, varies by state |
| Vendor adoption | Established | Early stage |
| Regulatory direction | Tightening steadily | Forming |
Why the Delay Is a Strategic Problem, Not Just a Timing One
There is an argument that Mindway’s slower US traction is simply a function of being early. But early can curdle into costly if the runway stretches longer than capital allows. Vendors burning resources on a market that has not yet mandated their product face a familiar tension: stay and wait for regulation to catch up, or redirect effort toward markets already paying.
Kjaergaard’s framing suggests Mindway is choosing to wait. That is a defensible position for a company that believes US regulation will eventually mirror Europe’s trajectory. The precedent in other regulated sectors gives that view some weight, since American oversight of digital industries has tended to intensify once the market reaches a certain scale.
Still, conviction does not pay salaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Mindway AI actually do?
It provides behavioural analytics that assess online gambling players for signs of risky or harmful play, flagging accounts so operators can intervene. The approach models the judgement of a trained psychologist across multiple risk indicators rather than relying on a single rule.
Why is the US market harder for responsible gambling vendors?
Because online gambling is young there and regulated state by state, with few binding requirements for predictive monitoring. That leaves many safer-gambling tools in the category of optional spending.
Is responsible gambling technology legally required in the US?
Not uniformly. Requirements differ between states, and much of the adoption so far has been voluntary rather than mandated.
Could US rules change?
State regulators and advocacy groups have pushed for stronger player-protection standards, which would expand demand for monitoring tools if those efforts become law.
What Comes Next
For Mindway and its peers, the near-term question is whether US regulators move from encouragement to obligation. The firms positioned inside operator ecosystems before that shift will hold an advantage that latecomers cannot easily replicate. Kjaergaard is betting the market grows into the product.
The product, meanwhile, is already waiting.
