Livestream gaming giant Twitch has raised hackles among its millions of users after declaring it will share their data with its parent company Amazon, to better train the online retailer’s AI models.
In a post on X, Twitch said people would have the option to opt out of the data-sharing, but otherwise the live audio, text, images and other content on its channels would be used by Amazon for AI training across all its platforms.
Twitch’s move opens the latest front in the fight to preserve online privacy as artificial intelligence firms increasingly seek data to improve their models.
“An honest answer is: if it was opt-in, nobody would opt-in,” Twitch’s chief product officer Mike Minton said Wednesday during a live chat on the hugely popular gaming platform after the announcement.
“It’s going to be on by default, and in almost every content service in the world, it is on by default,” he added.
“I know it’s very upsetting to the community, but this is where we are.”
Gamers were quick to slam the policy as an unethical incursion on their privacy.
“Opting people in by default is not consent,” a user said in one of the tamer responses to Twitch’s announcement on X.
“Pay us for our services then with this AI training,” added another user.
Amazon and Twitch are not the first to start absorbing user data to build AI models as competition in the sector heats up.
Last year Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said all public comment on its platforms, with the exception of WhatsApp, would be used to train its AI models — unless users opted out.
