Kobo, an e-book platform that focuses on openness and author-friendliness, is currently causing unrest among the publishing author community due to a new update to its terms of service.Kobo Writing Life PlatformOfAmendment of TermsEffective June 6, Kobo will be allowed to use AI technology to process author content for non-production purposes. Although AI training is not authorized, it has caused many writers to question its future direction.
Kobo, an e-book service under Rakuten, has long been a popular alternative to Amazon Kindle, attracting support from independent authors. Its simple and clear royalty structure (2.99% of sales price over $70) and transparent policies have secured a significant position in the self-publishing market. However, the changes to its AI-powered terms of use, announced without prior notice to the author community, have sparked significant backlash.
Officially, the new terms allow Kobo to use AI, machine learning, and other technologies to analyze book content, primarily to improve the visibility of works, generate keywords and advertising copy, provide summaries, and provide accessibility features. However, for many authors, this "pre-approval" approach lacks transparency and feedback mechanisms.
For example, if the AI tags the wrong type or the automatically generated promotional content contains errors, it will directly affect the image of the work and reader evaluation. Currently, Kobo does not provide an opt-out option.
One author said, "We support technological innovation, but it should be based on two-way communication and the right to choose." Fantasy author Michelle Manus pointed out that although Kobo has stated that it will not use content to train generative AI, it is still worrying whether this will change in the future, especially when other platforms (such as Amazon) have begun to use content without prior notice to authors.Summarize book content through AI.
Although Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn followed up on the social platformRespond publicly, emphasizing that this move is intended to improve the efficiency of platform recommendations, maintain the quality of bookstores, and avoid copyright infringement. However, he also admitted that the current terms are still in the early testing stage and have not yet been implemented on a large scale.
Lots of questions about Kobo, #kobowritinglife and how, when and why we are using AI. Putting “AI” in the same sentence as “authors”, “books” or “publishers” makes a lot of alarm bells go off, and for good reason. 1/
— Michael Tamblyn (@mtamblyn.bsky.social) 2025年6月3日 上午8:50
It's worth noting that mainstream e-book platforms currently have varying approaches to AI. For example, Apple's Apple Books allows authors to choose whether to use AI-generated audio content for their books, while Barnes & Noble has yet to introduce any AI features. In contrast, Amazon's generative AI summarization feature is considered the most intrusive, and authors are unable to opt out.
For Kobo's loyal support of independent authors, these newly announced terms could impact its "author-friendly" brand image. While Kobo has stated its willingness to listen to feedback and provide assistance with content revisions, as generative AI increasingly permeates all platforms, striking a balance between innovation and respect will be a challenge that Kobo and all publishing platforms must face.
