Microsoft responds to Gaming Copilot controversy, says it uses screenshots to understand in-game events, not for training AI models — optional feature can be turned off, but not easily uninstalled

Gaming Copilot.

Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot feature recently hit Windows 11 as a public beta, with the company adding the feature to the operating system’s built-in Xbox Game Bar. However, one user complained on ResetEra forums, stating that their system’s network traffic showed the AI feature sending information about their actions to Microsoft’s servers, including private details on their screen. That set off a flurry of media coverage. We reached out to Microsoft for further details and the company sent over an official comment.

The controversy began with a forum post. “This installed automatically on my PC, and watching the network traffic, I realised (sic) it was automatically sending everything I was doing to Microsoft (including an NDA’d game I’m playing,” user RedbullCola said in the forums. “I checked the settings, and by default, it’s set to train on text seen on the screen — it screenshots everything, and OCRs text from in-game and sends it to MS. MS then uses what you’re doing to train their AI models.”