MLB Restricts Dugout iPad Use to Prevent Use of AI to Make Decisions
The league said as many as one-third of teams used custom apps for live recommendations, but no clubs were punished after a review.
- Major League Baseball outlawed artificial intelligence tools on dugout iPads, effective Wednesday before teams resumed play following the All-Star break, in an unusual mid-season policy change.
- As many as one-third of league teams had been installing custom apps that provided AI recommendations on substitutions and pitch calling, escalating after the league loosened iPad restrictions following a 2021 sign-stealing scandal.
- MLB-Issued iPads contain three tabs for Statcast data, ABS system information, and a custom tab where teams installed apps—now prohibited. One front office executive told The Athletic, 'Gotta stop the cheating before there's cheating now.'
- After reviewing technology use across the league, MLB found no teams had broken sign-stealing or electronic-device rules, and all organizations are now compliant with no clubs facing punishment.
- Stricter controls now limit live information on iPads with video available only on delay and non-field personnel barred from dugouts, reflecting concerns that AI replacement of human judgment threatens the sport's inherent joy.
62 Articles
62 Articles
Adam Ottavino's Mets reveal prompts MLB to restrict dugout AI use
Major League Baseball has implemented new restrictions on the use of iPads in dugouts to prevent teams from leveraging artificial intelligence for real-time strategic decisions. The policy, which took effect at the start of the second half of the 2026 season, limits access to custom tabs on the devices that had allowed expanded functionality beyond viewing video and league-provided data. According to a June 11 memo from MLB executive vice presid…
Chicago Sun Times
MLB restricts dugout iPads to bar use of AI to make game decisions
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is restricting iPad usage in dugouts to prevent the tablets from running artificial intelligence to help make strategy decisions, and former reliever Adam Ottavino said the New York Mets' use of technology helped prompt the move.The tablets have access to video and league-provided data, and also included a custom tab where teams could access other programs. MLB made the custom tabs inaccessible to teams starting …
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