Google quietly changed its privacy settings, and the result is simple: if you upload media to Google’s Search services, it’s being used to train the company’s AI models unless you opt out. TechCrunch AI reports that the change arrived through an under-the-radar update to Google’s Search services privacy settings, announced in June via a customer email. The company essentially opted people into expanded AI training under the framing of giving users more control over their saved history and recommendations.
What stands out here is how broad this reaches. It isn’t just Google Search. According to TechCrunch AI, the update also covers Maps, Shopping, Flights, Hotels, Translate, and News. Snap a photo with Google Lens, and that image may be saved for AI training. Use Search Live or any voice search, and those audio recordings could be kept. Practice speaking with Google Translate, and that audio is saved too.
Google confirms the media use directly. In its email to customers, the company wrote: “Like your Search Services History, your saved media is also used to develop and improve Google services and technologies, including AI models and safety measures.” Its help docs add that Google “uses your history to provide, develop, and improve its services (such as training generative AI models)” with the help of human reviewers.
This matters because it reflects a wider industry shift. Instead of relying only on data scraped from the web, Google and rivals like Meta are now collecting what people upload or create while using their products. Your search activity has become training fuel.
Quick Start
What you’ll learn: how to turn off saved media and search history so Google stops using them to train its AI. What you need: about five minutes and access to your Google account settings.
Step-by-step: opt out
- Open your Search Services History page. This is the new control center for what Google keeps. Starting here matters because the update split search data into its own setting, separate from the older Web & App Activity controls.
- Uncheck the “Save Media” box. You can uncheck this separately from the “Search Services History” box, or uncheck both. The Save Media box is what specifically covers your images, files, and audio or video recordings, so this is the single most important toggle for stopping media-based AI training.
- Uncheck “Search Services History” too, if you want. Turning this off limits how much of your broader search activity Google retains and uses to develop its services.
- Set auto-delete. Google lets you configure how often saved data is automatically deleted: after three months, 18 months, or 36 months. Pick the shortest window you’re comfortable with so old data doesn’t linger indefinitely.
- Visit the Search Services Personalization page. Here you control how your activity personalizes your Google experience, including which ads you see. Google uses your search history, location, and the sites you visit to shape this.
- Check your other privacy settings. From there you can jump to Web & App Activity, Timeline, YouTube History, and more. This is worth doing because Google’s data collection spans far more than search alone.
The trap to watch for
Here’s the detail that catches people. Before this update, Web & App Activity controlled your saved search data. That’s now been split into two settings: Web & App Activity data, and a new Search data setting that is on by default.
So if you changed your Web & App Activity retention in the past to opt out, that change no longer covers Google Search services. Search is now a separate switch you have to flip yourself. Assuming you already opted out is exactly how people stay opted in.
What to do next
Treat this as a recurring habit, not a one-time fix. Privacy defaults drift back toward more collection over time, so put a reminder on your calendar to recheck these pages every few months.
If you use Google Lens, Search Live, or Translate voice features often, revisit your Save Media setting after any major app update. And apply the same scrutiny to other services you use. Meta, as TechCrunch AI notes, is training its AI on user images and media at scale too. The pattern is spreading, and the opt-out is almost always yours to find. For the full walkthrough and screenshots, see the original report at TechCrunch AI.