RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 13 sourcesBot training switch is on by default, because apparently asking first wasn't going to work
Twitch has given streamers a switch to stop their channel content being fed into Amazon's generative AI machinery, but naturally it is turned on by default.
The Amazon-owned streaming platform has added a "Training for Generative AI" control to channel settings, allowing streamers to opt out of having their content used for future GenAI model improvements.
With the setting enabled, Twitch says channel content – including livestreams, videos on demand, clips, highlights, text, images, and chat messages – may be used to train Amazon's generative AI models. The benefits aren't confined to Twitch either, as the company says the resulting models may also be used elsewhere in the Amazon empire.
For example, Twitch says audio from streams could be used to refine speech-to-text models, improving captions on Twitch as well as "across Amazon."
Streamers who would rather not contribute their channels to Amazon's AI ambitions can opt out, but they'll need to do it themselves. Twitch has helpfully enabled the setting by default.
Twitch chief product officer Mike Minton offered a refreshingly uncomplicated explanation for that decision during a livestream discussing the changes: "If it was opt-in, nobody would opt in," he said. "That's honestly the answer. So it's going to be on by default."
The new control also doesn't mark the beginning of Amazon using Twitch material to build AI. According to Ars Technica , Minton confirmed at an event hosted by The Information in 2024 that Amazon was already using Twitch data to train AI models. What's changed is that Twitch users now have a dedicated way to tell it to stop using their content for future generative AI training.
There are some wrinkles, naturally. The channel owner's setting determines whether messages posted in its chat can be used, so opting out on your own channel does not protect what you type in somebody else's if that streamer leaves training enabled.
And Twitch's wording is conspicuously forward-looking: opting out means content won't be used for "future" GenAI model improvements. The company doesn't say that flicking the switch somehow extracts anything that has already made its way into a model.
The Register has asked Amazon which of its AI models have been trained on Twitch content, how long it has been using the data, and whether opting out has any effect on material already used for training. We've also asked whether models trained on Twitch content are used in products available to Amazon customers or third parties.
For now, Twitch creators finally have a way to keep their content off Amazon's generative AI training menu. All they have to do is find the switch Amazon would plainly rather they left alone. ®
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