AI companies have already scraped much of the public internet to train their models. Now Amazon is turning to Twitch streamers.
Twitch announced Wednesday that it is adding a new account setting that allows users to opt out of having content from their channels used to train parent company Amazon’s generative AI models. The catch is the the setting is turned on by default.
“Generative AI content models are AI tools that can help create or synthesize content outputs like text or images when given instructions or prompts because they are also trained on content,” the company wrote in a support page about the setting. “When you allow training, that means that your content may be used for future Gen AI model improvements.”
Twitch says that content can include streams, VODs, clips, stream chats, and any images and text posted to a user’s channel.
For example, the company says that users’ audio could be used to improve models that turn speech into text and potentially improve captions on Twitch and elsewhere on Amazon. The page also points out that opting out does not shut off every use of AI on Twitch. The platform can still use AI-powered features like AutoMod and caption generation, though Twitch says content used for those features will not be retained to train AI models.
Backlash quickly follows announcement
The decision to make the new setting opt-out rather than opt-in quickly drew backlash, as a post from Twitch announcing the change on X was bombarded with complaints from users.
“It should be opt in by default you’re banking on people forgetting about it to train the AI,” wrote one user.
“On by default is malicious of you, constantly disappointed with these decisions that go against the wishes of the community,” wrote another.
Twitch appears to have anticipated that reaction. The company hosted a livestream Wednesday to discuss the topic, where Chief Product Officer Mike Minton directly addressed why users were enrolled by default: “If this was opt-in, nobody would opt in. That’s honestly the answer,” said Minton.
Still, exactly how long Amazon has been using Twitch content for AI training remains a bit murky.
In 2024, The Information asked Minton, who was then Twitch’s chief monetization officer, whether Amazon was using Twitch to train AI models.
“Yeah, for sure,” Minton answered. “I mean, I think obviously within the bounds of user trust, within the bounds of privacy regulations, which vary all around the world, but of course we have a role to play in that.”
Minton said at the time that Amazon was using Twitch content “in a prototyping, not in any kind of production scale, capacity.”
During this week’s stream, however, Minton said he could not say whether users’ content had already been used to train Amazon models.
“I don’t actually know the answer to that question, because I don’t know what Amazon has done in terms of model training and what they’ve used and not used,” he said.
Twitch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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