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Twitch is facing a wave of criticism after it emerged that Amazon has been quietly feeding streamer content into its generative AI systems by default. The platform has added an opt-out toggle in channel settings, but critics say the burden should never have fallen on creators in the first place. It is a familiar pattern, and users are tired of it.
Shifting to the regulatory front, the European Commission has classified Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act, even though neither company meets the usual size thresholds for that designation. Regulators pointed instead to entrenched market positions and high switching costs, signalling that Europe intends to challenge Big Tech's grip before it becomes truly unbreakable.
And in Alabama, residents of Somerville have lost their fight against a fifty-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility despite moratoriums at both county and town level. The company, VoltCore, found a gap in state zoning law that rendered local opposition legally toothless. It is a stark reminder that community resistance means little when the rulebook has a hole in it.
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