Twitch enables default use of user content for Amazon AI training

Twitch has updated its terms of service to allow its parent company, Amazon, to use user-generated content to train artificial intelligence models. This new policy is enabled by default for all accounts, utilizing an opt-out rather than an opt-in system.

The data collected for training includes live broadcasts, saved video recordings, and public chat messages. This creates a multimodal dataset consisting of video, audio, text, and user interactions, which Amazon can use to develop systems capable of generating new text, images, and video.

During a platform livestream, Twitch product manager Mike Minton acknowledged the controversial nature of the decision, stating that an opt-in system would likely result in insufficient consent levels to meet AI development needs. Users wishing to prevent their content from being used must manually disable the option under the ‘Security and Privacy’ section of their account settings. Twitch has stated that opting out will not result in channel penalties or reduced visibility.