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2 February 2026 – Yaspa, a leading fintech specializing in payments and identity solutions, today announced that it has become a founding member of the newly launched AI Research Hub (AiR Hub) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas International Gaming Institute (IGI). The collaboration highlights Yaspa’s commitment to integrating next-generation financial technology with academic research to support a safer and more sustainable gambling environment.
The AiR Hub was established by the UNLV International Gaming Institute to advance the industry’s understanding of the impacts, risks, and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. The initiative was co-founded by Kasra Ghaharian, IGI Director of Research, and industry veteran Simo Dragicevic, and is designed as a collaborative ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of trusted, responsible AI across the global gaming sector.
Yaspa joins a group of founding members that includes Aristocrat, Evoke Plc, Playtech Plc, and the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA). Together, these organizations form a diverse coalition focused on ensuring AI development in the gaming sector is grounded in cross-disciplinary expertise.
The AiR Hub’s flagship initiative is the State of AI in Gaming report, a first-of-its-kind annual study that indexes company AI maturity while also tracking regulatory and policy developments. Through this and related projects, the AiR Hub aims to drive innovation and support the appropriate governance of AI-driven systems within the highly regulated gaming industry.
As a founding member, Yaspa contributes its in-house AI expertise to support the Hub’s research initiatives, drawing on its experience developing the technology behind its Intelligent Payments platform and proprietary machine learning categorizer. As part of this involvement, Max Collinge, Yaspa’s Vice President of Product, will join the AiR Hub Advisory Panel, whose members help guide the Hub’s initiatives and maintain strong industry relevance.
“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 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.”
Kasra Ghaharian, Director of Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, International Gaming Institute, commented,
“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. 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.”
Simo Dragicevic, IGI Adjunct Fellow, said,
“Yaspa is building the industry’s open banking orchestration layer for player insights and risk assessment. 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.”
