Breakfast host's warning as alarming AI gambling ad captures likeness

Breakfast presenter Jenny-May Clarkson has issued a warning after her likeness was used in an AI-generated video promoting what appeared to be a scam gambling website.

The video used AI-generated audio and video to make it seem like Clarkson was promoting an app called “Māori Game”. Also appearing in the video was an AI-generated version of Kiwi director Taika Waititi.

“I want to make it very clear that that wasn’t me speaking,” Clarkson said on Breakfast this morning.

She said the video’s use of her and Waititi’s likeness shone a light on how Māori were being “targeted more and more” by gambling advertisements, making an “already serious problem worse”.

According to the Ministry of Health, Māori were three times more likely to be moderate-risk or problem gamblers than non-Māori and non-Pacific people.

On Breakfast this morning, Māori health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora’s chief operating officer Jason Alexander said videos like the one of Clarkson may be entertaining for those who knew it was fake, but was concerned others may take it seriously.

“You’ve got a well-known and trusted face. You’re seen to give truth, the news and those sorts of things. So, when you’re out there promoting something like this, or who they believe is you, then some will say: ‘Well, this is a trustworthy product, and I’m going to give it a go’.”

He said from the video, it was clear the supposed scammers knew who they were targeting.

“Now they have the tools and technology to do things like this. It’s probably not really that difficult given the rate that technology is advancing at the moment.”

Alexander said the video addressed the broader issue of overseas online casinos targeting vulnerable communities. He said it was “everywhere”.

He discussed a recent Department of Internal Affairs crackdown where New Zealand influencers were sent formal warnings, recommending they cease promoting offshore online casinos or face fines of up to $10,000 per breach. It is illegal to publish an advertisement for an offshore gambling operator under the Gambling Act.

Alexander said his organisation had been anecdotally told Māori and Pacific influencers had been promoting online casinos “more and more”.

Asked about why Māori and Pacific communities were still so vulnerable to problem gambling, Alexander gave several reasons.

“People are looking for a way out of poverty, gambling sort of dangles a carrot out there as a way to sort of break out of the cycle of living week by week, day by day.”

He said there had been a “proliferation” of pokies popping up in “the communities that can least afford to lose money”.

According to Hāpai Te Hauora numbers, 50% of pokie machines were found in the most deprived communities.

The Government is currently moving to regulate the online casino industry for the first time, offering up to 15 licenses to be sold off at auction and setting up a new market expected to launch in February 2026. Companies that win licenses will need to pay GST, a 12% gambling duty and the problem gambling levy, but not community grants.

The new operators, expected to be mostly foreign-owned companies, will be able to advertise for the first time under the new regulations.

Alexander said some rules and protections for reducing gambling harm were “probably not quite fit for purpose” in the evolving landscape.

He wanted to see the Government do some due diligence before handing out licences to overseas operators.

“We do need these regulations… If we allow and licence providers from overseas to come in, then at lease we can put some controls and some safety mechanisms in place.

“But we need to step into that very, very carefully.”