Microsoft's Gaming Copilot takes screenshots – but not for AI training
Microsoft has now responded to accusations that PC players are being monitored with the new feature. However, the answers are not entirely clear.
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The "Gaming Copilot" function, recently available to participants in the Windows Insider Program, is said to constantly take screenshots of Windows PCs and send them to Microsoft. According to the fears of some users, they could be used for AI training. However, Microsoft has now stated in response to an inquiry that this is not the case.
The company confirmed to Tom’s Hardware that Gaming Copilot takes screenshots. However, these would "not be used to train AI models." Furthermore, the images are only captured by Copilot "when you are playing a game, and [are] actively using [the Copilot]." The function is intended to provide players with solutions. For this, according to Microsoft, Copilot must observe the game events to understand what the player needs to do.
However, what remains open is where the processing of the screenshots – and also of voice chats in games, if this is enabled in Copilot – actually takes place. Before Tom's Hardware's inquiry, users had complained in forum posts that data was constantly being transmitted to Microsoft when using Gaming Copilot. Without providing details, one player reported on ResetEra that he had noticed this by monitoring network traffic from his system.
Microsoft does not say where data is processed
This means it remains unclear whether Microsoft analyzes the screenshots on its systems. To understand some game content, text recognition (OCR) is necessary, among other things. Whether this, and more complex contexts such as player and enemy movement paths or puzzle tasks, can be recognized locally, with or without an NPU, remains questionable. At Tom's Hardware, Gaming Copilot could also be enabled on a system without an NPU, which Windows 11 does not recognize as suitable for Copilot+ either. This suggests that the game copilot can also work with CPU and GPU alone – or that the data is analyzed on Microsoft's systems after all.
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According to Microsoft, Gaming Copilot, which can also be used via the Xbox Game Bar, should always be opt-in – meaning it must be explicitly enabled by the player. However, the user who first complained about network traffic stated that the function had become active after an update without his intervention. How these default settings will look for all players is likely to be crucial for Gaming Copilot, especially in light of the European GDPR. In the medium term, Gaming Copilot is expected to be available on all systems with Windows 11 via the Game Bar.
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