- A claim has been made that Windows 11’s Gaming Copilot AI may be capturing gameplay and sending it back to Microsoft
- Gaming Copilot is a beta AI feature in the Game Bar
- There’s confusion over whether or not this privacy concern is valid, but it’s clear that Gaming Copilot can affect your frame rates (slightly) in games
While Microsoft is constantly making efforts to improve gaming on Windows 11, most recently with a new ‘full screen experience’ mode for handhelds and also an AI gaming assistant, the latter is currently mired in some controversy.
As Wccftech discovered, according to a poster on the ResetEra forum, Windows 11’s Gaming Copilot can actively monitor and capture gameplay and send this back to Microsoft for ‘model training’ (by AI) by default. The poster shares a screenshot of the ‘model training on text’ option enabled by default, raising privacy concerns.
However, there seems to be some disagreement as to whether or not this is a valid accusation leveled at Microsoft – so much so that the admins have locked the thread on the forum.
For now, we’ll have to take this claim with a good dose of caution – and assume that training data is only sent back to Microsoft if you’re actually using Gaming Copilot (with the relevant options enabled). Or that maybe this is some kind of bug (remember Gaming Copilot is still in beta).
As pointed out by another resident of ResetEra, Microsoft’s FAQ for Gaming Copilot clearly states that ‘screenshots are not saved or used for model training’ and that capture is only taken when you actually use Copilot in Windows 11’s Game Bar.
All of this has raised privacy fears for some players, as mentioned, and hopefully Microsoft will be able to cut through the confusion and clear this up. I’ve reached out to the company about this and will update this story if I hear back.
Privacy controversy aside, what is clear enough about Gaming Copilot is the impact it has on performance. I tested Death as a discotheque demo on Steam and noted that Gaming Copilot reduces frame rates, although the AI feature doesn’t have much of an impact.
With Gaming Copilot’s model training settings turned on in the game’s ‘Infinite Disco’ mode, the frame rate often dipped into the 70s, although it mostly stayed in the 80 to 85 fps range.
With Gaming Copilot’s model training settings turned off, the game stayed in an 84 to 89 fps range while occasionally hitting 90 fps or more, without any dips into the high 70s range.
Microsoft’s Edge browser is also required to view and export the data captured (via ‘Game Assist’), and having it in the background won’t help with game graphics.
Now, while this doesn’t sound like a significant frame rate loss, when you stack this up with the rest of Windows 11’s bloatware that limits performance levels (even with the new handheld mode), it all adds up. Speaking of handhelds, Gaming Copilot is likely to have a worse impact on lower-end systems like these portable gaming devices, where every frame counts due to weaker hardware specs.
Analysis: I’ve never wanted to leave Windows 11 more than I do now…
I have now reached a point where I feel that Microsoft is trying to drive gamers away from its operating system, even though it believes that add-ons like Gaming Copilot are useful.
I’m willing to bet that a decent portion of players don’t need an AI assistant for gaming assistance and don’t want anything that holds back performance (or causes potential privacy concerns for some people, though we don’t yet know how valid those concerns are).
To me, it’s just such a shame that apparently nothing will be done to provide Linux compatibility for games with anti-cheat tools such as Battlefield 6 and Call of Dutybecause as tempted as I am to switch to SteamOS on my primary desktop PC, I’d be missing out on some great gaming experiences. (And no, I don’t mean Call of Dutybut I’m sure you get my point).
I guess my only option at this point is to put up with the issues I’m having with Windows 11 for gaming and pray that things start to change for Linux in terms of anti-cheat tools.
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