Amazon sued for training AI on Twitch content
Content creators never signed up for this.
Twitch logo on a phone screen. Image by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
- A Twitch creator is suing Amazon and Twitch over claims they used streamer content to train AI without consent or payment.
- The lawsuit says Amazon copied millions of Twitch videos and began scraping creator content for AI training in 2024.
- Users can opt out, but generative AI training is turned on by default, a policy critics say puts creators at risk.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A Twitch streamer from Connecticut is suing Twitch and its parent company, Amazon, in a class action lawsuit over plans to train its AI models with content from Twitch users without permission or compensation.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Warren Pandiscia, a Twitch content creator with over 900 followers.
He claims that Amazon unlawfully copied millions of videos from him and other content creators on Twitch to develop Amazon’s AI models and products without obtaining consent or negotiating licenses.
Pandiscia alleges that Twitch and Amazon began scraping content creators’ content for AI training purposes as early as 2024, with no way to opt out. However, Amazon only recently announced that it would train its AI models using data from Twitch users.
The company confirmed this with a message on X on August 12th, the same day Twitch updated its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to include new provisions on automated tools and AI.
Twitch has since confirmed that Amazon may use streams, past broadcasts, clips, chats, images, and text for AI training, including “future training of a model developed by Amazon whose purpose is to generate or synthesize text, audio, images, or video.”
Although users can opt out if they don’t want their livestreams used for AI training, “Training for Generative AI” is enabled by default. According to Mike Minton, chief product officer at Twitch, this was done because nobody would consent if an opt-in were offered.
Pandiscia argues that Amazon’s actions cost him money and deprived him of control over his work.
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“Content creators such as the plaintiff and class members will never be able to claw back the intellectual property unlawfully copied and used by defendants to train Amazon’s generative AI. Once AI ingests content, that content is stored in its neural network and is not capable of deletion or retraction. Defendants’ actions constitute abuse and exploitation of content creators’ work for defendants’ profit,” he says in the indictment.
According to Courthouse News Service, Pandiscia asserts claims of breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, breach of express contract, and unfair business practices. He asks the court to award injunctive relief, as well as damages, restitution, and disgorgement of profits.
Twitch and Amazon haven’t responded to a request for comment.
The Dutch data protection authority recently urged Twitch users to opt out of sharing data with Amazon, as consenting to this is “very risky.”
