MLB Licenses AI Versions of Players for Always-On Fan Chats

Your favorite baseball player just picked up a new side hustle: never sleeping and always replying.

Major League Baseball players have agreed to license AI versions of themselves that can chat directly with fans, marking a new phase of officially sanctioned, always-on digital interaction between athletes and audiences. The deal allows player likenesses to be used in conversational AI experiences designed to feel personal, interactive, and continuous.

According to Forbes, the agreement was struck through MLB Players Inc. and enables AI avatars for all active players, not just stars, with conversations that can evolve over time and be monetized through paid interactions and digital experiences.

Player identity rights move into unfamiliar territory

The deal follows the same group licensing model long used for commercial products like sports video games, allowing a single framework to govern how player identities are deployed. That approach establishes clear rules around how digital representations are created and distributed at scale.

As Forbes describes, the AI versions are built from approved materials and designed to reflect how players present themselves publicly, without requiring direct involvement. Players can later add personal input if they choose, but the default experience is designed to function independently.

Conversations that don’t reset

The AI player experiences will be delivered through Genies, a company that builds interactive digital avatars, and are built to carry context forward across multiple conversations, so fans can return and pick up where they left off.

Details from earlier exchanges can shape future responses, giving interactions a sense of continuity instead of starting from scratch each time.

Text and voice conversations are paired with animated visual avatars, creating exchanges that feel more personal than traditional digital touchpoints.

A standardized entry point for every player

Every active MLB player is included under the agreement by default, using the same group licensing structure the league already relies on for commercial products. That approach allows the AI experiences to launch at full roster scale without requiring individual sign-offs or custom builds for each player.

Access is not limited to conversation alone: the structure allows for paid interactions, in-experience features, and digital goods, though the initial rollout is focused on chat-based experiences, with additional formats expected to follow.

Adapting to how fans engage now

The move responds to changes in how fans expect to interact with players, with engagement no longer limited to games, press appearances, or social posts. Younger audiences are accustomed to direct, on-demand interaction that extends outside traditional viewing windows.

By formally licensing AI-based interactions, MLB establishes an official channel for continuous player access that exists within its existing media ecosystem. A precedent is set for managing player likeness and fan relationships across leagues.

Anthropic used a Super Bowl ad to contrast Claude’s ad-free stance with OpenAI’s direction.

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