A TV Ad comes to life with a Charles Barkley AI-Powered Chatbot

FanDuel came to NineTwoThree with an innovative concept - they were planning a series of television ad spots featuring Charles Barkley bantering with ChuckGPT, a chatbot version of himself, and wanted to bring that bot out of the big screen and onto fans’ phones. Thus, Chuck AI was born: actual interactive chatbot where fans can chat directly with Chuck. Chuck AI talks like Barkley, jokes like Barkley, and razzes you like Barkley, but stays safely within the brand and reasonable decorum. The technology was even used to power a physical chatbot filmed for a live Barkley broadcast on TNT, bringing the campaign full circle.

Talk to Chuck

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concept

A custom AI Bot, in Chuck’s Style and Voice

To pair with FanDuel’s creative TV campaign, NineTwoThree was asked to build a custom AI chatbot that mimics Barkley’s bigger-than-life personality and smooth distinctive voice while maintaining content safeguards, allowing users to engage with Chuck AI in a fun and controlled way.

Fans can say something to Chuck, and literally hear his voice reply with a unique and fun Chuck-like response.

The concept was to both use this chatbot to amplify the campaign impact, but to fuel an in-person ChuckGPT device that could be used in social media, in out-of-home, and on live television spots as well.

Challenge

FanDuel faced multiple challenges in
Bringing Chuck AI to life

Brand Extension

How to translate the humor and engagement of a commercial into a digital experience that enhances FanDuel’s brand presence.

AI Voice & Personality

Ensuring the chatbot authentically mirrored Charles Barkley’s speech patterns and style while maintaining a level of control over responses - but also creating a custom AI-based voice model so that fans could hear Chuck talking right to them through their phone.

Legal & Compliance Constraints

Avoiding sports betting advice, dodging controversial topics, and managing potential brand risks associated with an AI-powered experience.

Technical Execution for Fans

Creating a scalable, web-friendly chatbot capable of handling high traffic during peak campaign engagement and supporting social media virality.

Companion App for Hardware

Planing and executing a mobile app to integrate with a physical ChuckGPT device being created separately, to enable an easy-to-use in-person ChuckGPT experience on TV and in marketing promotion.

The inspiration: ChuckGPT on TV

Solution 1/6

AI Personality Development

Built a custom AI chatbot using OpenAI’s technology, and used AI models to train the chatbot to speak in Barkley’s signature style while following strict content guidelines to avoid controversial topics.

Tap to hear Chuck

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Solution 2/6

Guardrails & Compliance

Implemented content moderation and filtering systems to keep interactions fun, brand-safe, and legally compliant. The technology uses several layers of guardrails to evaluate the fan’s question, and then does another set of checks on Chuck AI’s answer to enable a positive chat experience.

Solution 3/6

Custom Mobile Web Development

Developed a mobile-first web application to house the chatbot, implemented voice technology for initial interaction, and integrated seamlessly with FanDuel’s digital ecosystem.

Tap to hear Chuck

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Solution 4/6

Custom iOS Development

Built a standalone iOS app to power the physical ChuckGPT device for in-person marketing promotions and TV opportunities

Solution 5/6

Scalability & Performance

Crafted thoughtful system architecture and performed edge-case planning, load testing, and optimization to ensure Chuck AI could handle potential viral engagement. This produced a system that scaled from zero to tens of thousands of users within just a few hours of launch.

Solution 6/6

Partnership

Collaborated closely with FanDuel’s Creative Advertising team on creative alignment, reach opportunity, and brand guardrails to build the chatbot - then continued the tight partnership on marketing opportunities going into launch.

Click to hear Chuck

Impact

NineTwoThree helped FanDuel transform from a TV ad to a truly 360 Campaign

By merging AI with entertainment, NineTwoThree helped FanDuel transform a commercial into a living digital experience that continues to drive engagement and brand awareness

Enhanced Brand Engagement

Extended the FanDuel campaign’s reach beyond TV by providing an interactive element for fans.

Authentic AI Personality

Created a chatbot that feels like Charles Barkley, increasing user retention and social shares.

Scalable Consumer Experience

Designed to handle surges in traffic, ensuring a seamless experience even during high-engagement periods.

Future Expansion Potential

Established a framework for future AI-driven brand experiences, including potential voice integration.

Social Media Extension

The chatbot personality was even more engaging than anticipated, and it inspired further social media extension - NineTwoThree engineered a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” event for ChuckGPT to highlight the conversational and entertaining nature of the bot and brand experience.

ChuckGPT on TNT, Powered by NineTwoThree

FanDuel found an opportunity to have Charles Barkley speak directly to ChuckGPT directly on a live TNT "Inside the NBA" broadcast.

A Chuck IA companion iOS app was created to power a physical ChuckGPT head.

The iOS app uses live voice-to-voice functionality with the Chuck AI, so that Charles could speak into a microphone and have the head reply. However, in order to be robust to handle all the unknowns of a live TV set environment, several backup functions were included for text, pre-set chats, and more, to be sure for success in key "live" moments.