NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is putting the brakes on artificial intelligence in the dugout, restricting how teams can use iPads during games to ensure that on-field decisions remain in human hands.
The tablets, which give teams access to video footage and league-provided statistics, also featured a custom tab that allowed clubs to run outside programs. That custom tab was shut down league-wide on Wednesday evening, coinciding with the start of the season’s second half.
In a memo dated June 11 and addressed to general managers, assistant general managers, and video coordinators, MLB executive vice president of baseball operations Morgan Sword explained why the change was necessary. “In many cases, the custom tab had expanded the use of the dugout iPads beyond their originally intended purpose to include recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches,” Sword wrote.
The memo was first reported by The Athletic and later obtained by The Associated Press.
A review conducted by the competition committee determined that clubs had been operating within existing rules — but the league still moved to close the loophole going forward.
Sword also noted that the timing of the restriction was deliberate. “Instituting this prohibition beginning with the second half of the season is intended to provide clubs that have relied on the custom tab with appropriate lead-time to make any necessary adjustments,” he wrote.
The history of iPads in MLB dugouts stretches back to a pilot program launched late in the 2015 season, which was expanded in 2016 through a partnership with Apple. Video access was pulled during the 2020 COVID-shortened season in the aftermath of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, but was restored the following year in 2021.
