MLB cuts off dugout iPad tabs over AI strategy worries
Major League Baseball has blocked custom iPad tabs in dugouts to keep AI from influencing in-game decisions, according to an AP-obtained memo.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
2 min read
Major League Baseball has pulled the plug on a custom iPad feature in dugouts as it tries to keep artificial intelligence out of in-game strategy calls, according to the Associated Press.
The change took effect Wednesday night, when the second half of the season began, the AP reported. Teams can no longer use custom tabs on league-approved dugout tablets, a feature that had allowed clubs to open additional programs beyond the standard video and MLB-provided data available on the devices.
The move was laid out in a June 11 memo from Morgan Sword, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, to general managers, assistant general managers and video coordinators. The AP said it obtained the memo, which The Athletic first reported.
According to Sword’s memo, MLB became concerned that the custom tab had grown beyond the iPads’ original role. The league said some uses had moved into recommendations involving substitutions, pitch selection and other choices normally handled by players and coaches during games.
The league’s target is clear: no AI-powered dugout brain helping decide what happens next on the field. MLB is restricting the tablets to stop them from being used to run artificial intelligence that could assist with those decisions, the AP reported.
The competition committee reviewed the matter and found that clubs had followed existing rules, according to the AP. That finding means the restriction is being framed as a forward-looking rule change rather than a punishment tied to a violation.
Sword’s memo said MLB waited until the second half so teams that had used the custom tab would have time to adjust, according to the AP.
The tablets themselves have been part of dugout life for years. MLB began testing iPads with limits late in the 2015 season, then expanded their use in 2016 through an agreement with Apple.
Video access has had its own bumpy history. MLB removed video from dugout tablets during the 2020 COVID season after the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, according to the AP. That access returned in 2021.
The latest restriction does not erase the iPads from the bench. It narrows what teams can do with them during games, especially when outside programs could feed managers, coaches or players with suggested moves in real time.
For a sport already packed with data, the line MLB is drawing is about who, or what, gets to make the call once the game starts. Under the new setup, the custom software lane is closed.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.