Valor Casino promotes itself with Virat Kohli & Ranveer Allahbadia's deepfake videos

In another episode of misusing Artificial Intelligence, Valor Casino, an online gaming platform has employed deepfake technology to feature popular celebrities in its promotional campaign. The latest victims of this unethical tactic are cricket icon Virat Kohli and social media entrepreneur and podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia (popularly known as Beer Biceps), whose fabricated videos endorse the casino games and other services on Instagram.

The company further exploits the social media platform by utilising random and fake account to amplify its reach. In a desperate bid for attention, the same story featuring Kohli and Allahbadia is reposted up to ten times, mentioning various Instagram users and directing them to Valor Casino's website through an attached link. To entice potential customers, the company lures them with a bonus offer, adding another layer to its deceptive marketing tactics.

The company is using fake accounts to disseminate these deepfake videos likely to keep the content hidden from the general public's view, instead targeting only the users tagged in the stories for maximum impact.

This isn't the first instance of a gambling app resorting to such misleading measures. Just months ago, a similar controversy emerged when a deepfake video featuring cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar surfaced, endorsing the shady gaming app, Skyward Aviator Quest. The video not only promoted the app but also falsely claimed that Tendulkar's daughter, Sara, was profiting from it.

The Indian government has been vigilant about combating the misuse of deepfake content. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Information Technology, emphasised the seriousness of the issue, highlighting that existing regulations under Rule 3(1)(b)(v) of IT Rules, 2021, already cover deepfakes. He announced that an advisory on deepfakes has been prepared and will be issued to all tech firms, stressing the need for full enforcement by online platforms.

In a separate incident, actress Nora Fatehi called out a brand for using a deepfake image of her in one of its promotional advertisements on social media. It was later revealed that the ad was part of a campaign with HDFC.