MLB restricts using dugout iPads for AI-assisted in-game strategy - ESPN

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 Wednesday night, when the second half of the season started.

«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,» MLB executive vice president of baseball operations Morgan Sword wrote in a June 11 memo to general managers, assistant GMs and video coordinators.

The memo, first reported by The Athletic, was obtained by The Associated Press.

«I read the article and I was like, I can't believe what I'm seeing,» New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge said. «Teams are making decisions off of AI? Man, that's just crazy.»

Ottavino said on his YouTube livestream «Baseball & Coffee» that the Mets had been using AI and cited spending by team owner Steve Cohen on the software. Ottavino pitched for the Mets from 2022 to 2024 and is now a broadcaster on the Yankees' YES Network.

«The Mets were actually the team, the main team, that got cracked down on,» Ottavino said. «They had an AI program that was very expensive apparently, and they were bragging about it a little bit early on in this — the year. Some of the coaches that I know were talking about it from around the league, and they had basically