PC gamers claim Windows 11's Gaming Copilot is capturing gameplay for AI training by default – but what it's actually doing is spoiling performance (www.techradar.com)

A thread on ResetEra and a Wccftech report raised alarms that Windows 11’s Gaming Copilot — a beta AI assistant in the Game Bar — may be capturing gameplay and sending it to Microsoft “for model training” by default, pointing to a screenshot of a “model training on text” setting enabled. The claim is contested: Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot FAQ says screenshots aren’t stored or used for model training and that captures occur only when you actively use Copilot. The forum thread was locked amid disagreement, and the feature is still in beta, so this could be a UI/telemetry mislabeling or an opt-in confusion rather than blanket data collection. Microsoft has been contacted for clarification. Separately, hands-on testing shows a measurable, if modest, performance hit when Copilot’s model-training-related settings are enabled. In one Steam demo, frame rates dipped into the 70s (mostly 80–85 fps) with training enabled versus 84–89 fps and occasional 90+ fps with it off. Viewing/exporting captured data uses Edge in the background (via “Game Assist”), which also affects performance. The incident underscores two practical implications for the AI/ML community: the need for clear telemetry/opt‑in controls and documentation for model-data flows, and awareness that on‑device AI features can introduce CPU/IO/network overheads that matter on lower‑end or handheld hardware.