Amazon’s AWS helps NFL players and fans use AI to customize shoes for My Cause My Cleats

For its eighth annual campaign, the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative — which sees players express charitable interests through custom footwear designs — is embracing generative AI. Three NFL stars used a tool developed by Amazon’s AWS to create their custom cleats. Using Amazon Bedrock, the technology combines Anthropic’s Claude with Stability AI’s image generation capabilities to transform simple prompts into detailed designs.

Players can select from various artistic styles, including Graffiti, Watercolor, Pixelated and Grunge, and specify up to three colors to guide the AI’s creative direction. Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, for instance, used terms like “pitbull” and “wild” to generate artwork supporting Stand Up for Pits, while Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen collaborated with children from Oishei Children’s Hospital, incorporating their artwork on his cleats for a game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Fans can participate, too, by creating their own AI-generated cleat designs through the My Cause, My Cleats microsite and potentially winning a pair of game-worn cleats. AWS’s design tool allows users to preview their cleats before sharing them on social media and amplifying support for the charitable causes selected by NFL athletes. For Amazon, meanwhile, it’s a hands-on way of demonstrating AWS Bedrock and its AI capabilities — blending B2C, B2B and cause marketing in one fell swoop.