MLB’s AI ban exposes how far teams pushed dugout iPads

A quiet workaround inside Major League Baseball dugouts is now officially over. The league has banned teams from running generative AI on the iPads it issues to every club, ending a practice that had spread further than many inside the sport realized.

The policy took effect Wednesday, timed to the start of the season’s second half, after a commissioner’s office memo circulated last month warning teams to comply. The New York Times, which obtained the memo, reported that some clubs had installed custom apps offering recommendations on ‘substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches.’

Sources familiar with how the technology was being used told the Times that as many as one-third of MLB’s 30 teams had used the dugout iPads for at least one AI-assisted purpose. The tools reportedly worked by taking live-scored game data, including pitch type and location, and using it to generate updated game plans in real time, according to Jack Lambert, director of baseball operations at Driveline Baseball.

The iPads at the center of the controversy have a longer history than the AI feature itself. MLB introduced them across dugouts in 2016 and tightened their use in 2021 following sign-stealing scandals that rocked the league. Former executive Chris Marinak said at the time the devices were meant to be ‘completely locked down,’ limited to league-approved video with no internet or social media access. By this season, the tablets held three sections, including a ‘custom tab’ teams used for tendencies and matchup data, the same tab where some teams reportedly layered in AI tools.

MLB’s review concluded that, despite the workaround, all clubs remained compliant with existing electronic-device and sign-stealing rules, meaning the new ban carries no penalties. A front-office executive told the Times the goal was to act before the practice became a bigger problem, while a senior MLB research and development official said the change had ’caused quite the stir’ inside the league. MLB and the players’ union both declined to comment beyond the memo issued by Morgan Sword, the league’s executive vice president of baseball operations.

Wikimedia Commons/by Keith Allison