Amazon is facing a class-action lawsuit, external alleging that it used Twitch streamers’ videos to train artificial intelligence (AI) models without their permission or compensation.
The lawsuit follows backlash from Twitch users after the platform announced its AI training initiative in August. Twitch gave users the option to opt out of having their content used for this purpose.
Filed on behalf of millions of Twitch streamers, the lawsuit claims that Amazon used livestream videos as AI training data without obtaining adequate permission or providing compensation to the creators.
Amazon and Twitch have not publicly commented on the lawsuit.
Twitch streamers reportedly produced more than 215 million hours of content, external during the first few months of 2026 alone, highlighting the enormous volume of video and audio data available for AI development.
The case was filed by Warren Pandiscia, a Twitch streamer based in Connecticut.
According to the complaint, Twitch violated its agreement with users by allowing their content to be used as training data for Amazon’s AI models without their consent.
Pandiscia argues that streamers’ creative work should not be used for commercial AI development without their permission or financial compensation.
The lawsuit seeks damages for affected streamers and an injunction that would prevent Amazon from continuing the alleged use of Twitch content for AI training.
It remains unclear when Amazon began collecting Twitch user data to train its AI models.
Mike Minton, Twitch’s chief product officer, previously said he did not know whether user data had been collected for AI training before Twitch introduced the opt-out option.
Minton said he was unsure what Amazon had done regarding model training, including which data it had used and which data it had not used.
Twitch’s own AI training FAQ states that human audio may be used to improve speech-to-text systems and create more effective models.
The technology is intended to improve automatic captions for Twitch livestreams and Amazon Video content.
Streamers who want to disable the feature can open the Twitch streamer dashboard, select the [Settings] tab, choose [Security and Privacy], and scroll toward the bottom of the page. The [Generative AI Training] option must then be switched off.
However, the opt-out setting applies only to individual streams. If a creator’s content appears in another stream where AI training is enabled, that content may still be used for training purposes.
Amazon acquired Twitch in 2014 for approximately $1 billion (£740 million). The company has since made AI a major strategic priority as it competes with Google, Meta and other leading technology companies.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk