Twitch Adds Opt-Out for Amazon AI Training After Enrolling All Creators by Default - gHacks Tech News
Twitch introduced a new setting on August 12, 2026, that allows streamers to block their channel content from being used to train Amazon's generative AI models. The toggle was enabled by default for all accounts, so every creator was included before they had a chance to opt out.
Twitch did not send an email, show a pop-up, or make any advance announcement. The setting, called "Training for Generative AI," is found under Security and Privacy in account settings.
Content creator and streaming reporter Zach Bussey was the first to spot the setting and shared a screenshot on social media, where it quickly spread.
What Twitch's AI Training Opt-Out Covers
The toggle appears under Security and Privacy in account settings, where users can turn it off. According to Twitch's support documentation, the setting covers a channel's streams, VODs, clips, stream chats, and the images and text on a channel page. All of this content can be used to train Amazon's models that generate or synthesize text, audio, images, or video.
The documentation gives an example: audio from a stream could help improve speech-to-text systems, which would make captions better on Twitch and other Amazon products.
Twitch says that other AI-powered features already on the platform, such as automated captions, content recommendations, sponsorship tools, ad selection, and chat moderation tools like AutoMod, will keep working no matter how the setting is configured. These features do not keep content for training new generative models.
The opt-out has limits. It only covers a user's own channel. Chat messages posted in other streams are still subject to the settings of those channel owners. If you opt out, your chat messages in other channels can still be used for training.
Twitch's documentation says the change applies to future training and does not mention content already used before the opt-out was available. Twitch also says that allowing users to disable AI systems related to platform safety and security would weaken protections for everyone, so those features do not have a separate opt-out.
Amazon's Twitch AI Training and Creator Backlash
Amazon's use of Twitch content for AI training started before this week's announcement. At an industry event in 2024, Mike Minton, then Twitch's chief monetization officer, confirmed that Amazon was training AI on Twitch content. He said the company followed user trust and privacy rules in different countries.
Amazon has owned Twitch since 2014, which means it has over a decade of streams, gameplay footage, and real-time chat to use as material for AI training. Twitch has not said when Amazon started using this content for AI, and Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
Twitch executives addressed the reaction during a Patch Notes livestream on August 12. Minton, now chief product officer, and head of community Mary Kish answered questions from nearly 3,000 viewers.
Asked why the setting defaulted to opt-out instead of opt-in, Minton said, "If this was opt-in, nobody would opt in. That's honestly the answer." Minton also said he could not confirm what Amazon had already used for model training before the toggle existed, adding that he did not know what the company had or had not used.
Kish told viewers, "We don't expect you to be happy or excited about this," acknowledging the reaction before the stream took questions.
How to Turn Off Twitch AI Training
Streamers who want to stop their content from being used for future Amazon generative AI training should turn off the setting:
Open Twitch account settings and go to the Security and Privacy section.
Locate the "Training for Generative AI" toggle, which is enabled by default.
Turn it off to block your channel's streams, VODs, clips, stream chats, and channel page content from being used for future training.
Keep in mind that chat messages you post in other channels are still subject to those channel owners' settings. Opting out does not cover messages sent elsewhere.
Twitch has not said when Amazon started using Twitch content for AI training, and Minton said he could not confirm what Amazon had already used before the opt-out was available.
The documentation only covers future training, so it is unclear what happens with content already used. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
Comments
Shadow_Death said on August 14, 2026 at 5:51 pm
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Sounds like they’re taking Microsoft’s approach, it’s opt out until the option stops existing.
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