Bot 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.
