New York AG seeks Kalshi documents on influencer ads

New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a Manhattan court to compel Kalshi to comply with a September 25 subpoena tied to an investigation of deceptive advertising. The petition, filed in the New York County Supreme Court on Monday, seeks records about payments to influencers, internal marketing policies and the role of Kalshi’s affiliated and external market makers.

What the AG is seeking

James asks the court to order Kalshi to produce documents within 10 days and to impose sanctions if the company fails to comply. The subpoena is part of an “ongoing civil investigation into possible fraud and deceptive conduct by Kalshi and other third parties in the prediction markets industry,” the filing says.

The AG’s filing focuses the review on three marketing areas:

• influencer content showing large profits and social posts where users claim winnings paid rent or replaced a salary;

• promoters who allegedly failed to disclose sponsorships;

• promotion of Kalshi as a “peer-to-peer” exchange without a house despite its affiliated market maker, Kalshi Trading.

“Reviewing Kalshi’s advertising and marketing materials, the terms of its agreements with third parties to promote Kalshi’s business, and the role of Kalshi’s internal and external market makers is critical for the OAG... to determine whether Kalshi (or third parties on its behalf) engaged in fraudulent or deceptive conduct and/or made false or misleading statements to consumers in its advertising,” the petition states.

Scope of the subpoena

The subpoena demands documents and communications covering:

1. Marketing and promotion by Kalshi, by co‑founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, officers, employees and any third parties retained to advertise

2. Trading activity on the platform conducted by paid promoters and payments made to those promoters

3. Training materials, guidelines and policies on marketing

4. Proprietary trading, market making and liquidity provision by Kalshi on its platform

5. Agreements with external market makers

6. Details of specific programs: Volume Incentive Program, Liquidity Incentive Program, Liquidity Provider Program, Combo Incentive Program and Market Maker Program

7. Similar documentation produced for other state or federal regulators or self‑regulatory organizations

Several of those programs have already been scrutinised: Kalshi ended its volume incentives in October after questions about trading activity on the platform.

Litigation context in New York and nationally

James’s petition opens a consumer‑protection front that does not depend on whether federal law preempts New York rules. The action adds to other proceedings in the state. In October 2025 the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) issued a cease‑and‑desist order; Kalshi sued the regulator days later.

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres denied Kalshi a preliminary injunction in July, and a Second Circuit judge declined to stay that denial in an ongoing appeal. After the appeals decision, James filed a lawsuit for $36,000,000,000 on July 31.

Kalshi sought to move that suit to federal court; New York’s motion to remand the case to state court remains pending. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued New York in April and later issued an emergency order allowing Kalshi to continue operating in the state, an order New York urged courts to ignore.

The NYSGC went to court on October 22 to enforce July 31 subpoenas about sports contracts, under‑21 users, bet‑style advertising and corporate ownership; a hearing is set for December 14. James also filed a suit against Polymarket in September.

Comparisons with other attorneys general

The focus on market makers echoes action by Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, who named two Susquehanna firms as defendants in a case alleging illegal gambling, arguing that liquidity providers act as the house.

Letitia James’s petition brings marketing and influencer relations into the complex litigation Kalshi faces in New York and before federal authorities.