Kalshi AI ad swap sparks backlash: Asian creator turned white

A Kalshi advertisement generated by artificial intelligence took a YouTube clip from popular Asian creator Elliot Choy and “turned him into a white dude.”

Choy on Thursday posted a screenshot of the Kalshi ad next to his own video of his New York apartment.

The content creator said, “I guess Kalshi saw this and thought they should steal my video, turn me into a white dude, and run it as an ad.”

NPR reporter Bobby Allyn verified that the ad was genuine and that Kalshi is reassessing its ties with its marketing agency.

According to Allyn, Kalshi said the advert was an old one and that it has stopped using AI-generated commercials.

Nonetheless, the ad ran on YouTube this week, where Choy noticed it.

Second Kalshi ad called 'insane'

A separate AI-created Kalshi ad is also drawing mockery from internet users.

Styled after a Pixar film, the ad shows a couple facing money problems, with infidelity as its central plot point.

Toward the end, one woman says she is not cheating but is instead betting on egg prices through Kalshi, relying on what she knows from running a bakery.

Online commentators have labelled the advert “cringe,” “out of touch,” and “insane.”

Maybe the most cringe ad I ever had the displeasure of watching https://t.co/BaMWYkBkAr

— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) September 23, 2026

Several people pointed out the animation could attract children, while others speculated that the woman in the ad might be engaging in insider trading.

A user stated plainly, “this ad is just showing gambling addiction.”

Wash-trading allegations hit Kalshi

Kalshi has faced intense scrutiny this week after it had to push back against a number of wash trading accusations.

The Wall Street Journal recently discovered $5 billion in identical $5,500 trades on ETH perpetuals over a single month.

The newspaper's report expanded on work by quantitative analyst Benoit Dubosson, who began looking into the exchange after a disagreement with its crypto head IcoBeast.eth.

Adding to the trouble, users have started suggesting that Kalshi compensated multiple prominent X accounts — many not tied to prediction markets — for promoting its denial of the wash trading claims.

Some also said they observed Kalshi padding its user numbers by increasing the chat count.