Twitch adds opt-out for Amazon’s generative AI training on user content

Twitch now permits users to prevent Amazon from employing material from their channels to develop its generative AI systems. The platform disclosed the option today, more than two years after a company executive acknowledged that Twitch streams and related assets were already feeding those models.

Twitch updates its policy on AI training data. According to a revised support document, streamers who object must actively opt out; otherwise their "streams, VODs, clips, stream chats, and pictures and text on your channel" will continue to be used "in future training of a model developed by Amazon whose purpose is to generate or synthesize text, audio, images, or video." The page confirms that everyone starts as opted in.

The setting is located at www.twitch.tv/settings/security.

Amazon has used Twitch content for AI training since at least 2024. At a 2024 event hosted by The Information, then-chief monetization officer Mike Minton was asked whether Amazon trains AI on Twitch data. He replied, “Yeah, for sure,” and continued, “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.”

Recent forum threads and social-media posts revealed widespread unawareness of the practice. Ars Technica inquired how long Amazon, which acquired Twitch in 2014, has drawn on the platform for model training and will revise this story if an answer arrives.

The support page explains potential benefits and user concerns. The document states that permitting training allows content to improve future Gen AI models. As one illustration, it says a creator’s audio could help refine speech-to-text systems, thereby enhancing Twitch captions while also benefiting Amazon services more broadly.

Certain streamers oppose the arrangement because they receive no payment, worry that AI might replace their livelihood, or distrust the larger Amazon ecosystem. Others accept the trade-off and support AI development.

Users now have more control but skepticism remains. The new toggle hands creators greater say over how their output is applied. Even so, the default opt-in combined with limited prior disclosure has left many wary of Amazon’s approach to harvesting user-generated material.