Evidence since the April 2024 podcast shows that app-based sports betting has already become a significant social issue in the U.S., centered heavily on young men, with clear financial and behavioral harms.

• A 2024 national Fairleigh Dickinson University poll found that about 10% of men aged 18–30 meet problem-gambling thresholds, versus 3% of the overall population, and explicitly links these elevated rates to online sports betting and online slots, warning that online gambling is creating a "generation of problem gamblers." (fdu.edu)

• A February 2025 Siena College/St. Bonaventure survey reported that 22% of Americans — including 48% of men aged 18–49 — have an online sportsbook account; among these bettors, 52% had chased losses, 37% felt ashamed after losing, and 20% had lost so much they struggled to meet financial obligations. A majority of Americans say online sports betting will create compulsive gamblers and want strong federal regulation, indicating broad recognition of social harm. (scri.siena.edu)

• Maryland’s 2025 prevalence study shows disordered gambling rising from about 4% in 2022 to 5.7% in 2024, with online/mobile sports betting participation jumping from 3% to 12% after legalization; nearly 15% of those who bet on sports met criteria for disordered gambling, and two‑thirds of disordered gamblers were male. (marylandmatters.org)

• In April 2025, the city of Baltimore sued DraftKings and FanDuel, alleging that their apps and marketing practices intentionally drive compulsive gambling and citing research that online sports betting is associated with serious social harms, including suicidal ideation and domestic abuse. The complaint frames these harms as a growing public health concern. (washingtonpost.com)

• Federally, lawmakers have reintroduced the SAFE Bet Act, explicitly arguing that the explosion of mobile sports betting is exploiting addiction, with "far too many – especially young people – driven into gambling abuse disorder," and calling for national public‑health style regulation. (blumenthal.senate.gov) In parallel, recent commentary in medical and policy outlets now describes sports-betting apps as a growing public health crisis whose primary casualties are young men, emphasizing the role of mobile apps and in‑play betting in fostering addiction. (statnews.com)

Taken together, these data and policy responses show (1) disproportionately high and rising problem gambling among young men tied to online/app-based sports betting, and (2) mounting public, legal, and regulatory treatment of it as a serious public health and social problem — all within the "next several years" window. That matches the spirit of Chamath’s prediction that the gamified sports betting apps used by young men would become a big problem, so the prediction is best judged as right.