Twitch to share user data with Amazon for AI training

Twitch said it will share user data with its parent company Amazon to train AI models unless users opt out, prompting criticism from gamers over online privacy.

In a post on X, Twitch said live audio, text, images and other content on its channels would be used by Amazon for AI training across its platforms, while giving people the option to opt out.

Twitch chief product officer Mike Minton said during a live chat on the gaming platform on Wednesday that the setting would be on by default. "An honest answer is: if it was opt-in, nobody would opt-in," he said.

Minton said he knew the policy was upsetting to the community but added that default data use was common across content services.

Some users criticised the move. One user replying to Twitch's announcement on X said opting people in by default was not consent. Another said users should be paid if their content was being used for AI training.

Amazon and Twitch are not alone in using platform data for AI development. Meta said last year that public comments on Facebook and Instagram, except WhatsApp, would be used to train its AI models unless users opted out.