Twitch adds new setting to stop Amazon from using creators' content for AI training

Twitch creators can opt out of having their streams, videos, and posts used to train Amazon's artificial intelligence systems.

The new control offers a clear choice, but it also sharpens a lingering uncertainty: When did Amazon begin using Twitch material for AI training in the first place?

Here's what to know

Creators can find the new "Generative AI Training" switch in the Security and Privacy area of account settings on Twitch's website or mobile app and use it to block that specific use of their content. Twitch said the addition is meant to give users more say over how their work is handled.

According to Wired, the note beside the setting also makes clear what it does not cover. Turning it off still leaves Twitch and Amazon free to use channel content in other ways permitted under Twitch's Privacy Notice, including AI features for sponsorship assistance, recommendation-based discovery, and moderation tools such as AutoMod.

The change prompted backlash, with many creators saying they did not realize their content could be used this way by default. In a forum discussion about the issue, more than 16,000 creators objected to the practice.

During a livestream, Twitch head of community Mary Kish said the changes would likely face criticism. Twitch head of product Mike Minton added that keeping the setting on by default was necessary because otherwise "no one would participate."

More background

Part of the controversy centers on disclosure. Twitch's Terms of Service, in place since March 2024, have given the company and its sublicensees broad rights over their content, including reproduction, modification, distribution, and derivative works. However, the terms did not explicitly say that creator material could be used to train generative AI models.

Training data has become one of the most valuable resources in the AI race. Wired noted that other major tech companies, including Meta and Google, have also faced scrutiny over using content their users post to build AI tools.

AI systems can help utilities forecast demand and integrate renewable power more efficiently, but running and training them also uses enormous amounts of electricity and water, which can strain local grids and drive up utility bills for nearby households.

What can be done?

If you want to opt out, the Generative AI Training control is in the Security and Privacy section of your Twitch settings.

Switching the setting off does not end every AI-related use of your content on Twitch, nor does it guarantee that other companies cannot scrape material that is publicly available.

Privacy settings and updated terms of service across platforms determine whether posts are simply hosted, actively analyzed, or folded into future commercial tools.

Twitch's move may give users another layer of control, but it also shows how often meaningful consent arrives after the technology is already in motion. As Minton put it, "almost any publicly available content is used to train models in one way or another, with or without permission."

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