Amazon KDP AI Disclosure Policy: What You Must Declare in 2026

Amazon updated its AI content policy several times since 2023, and as of 2026 the rules are stable, simple, and almost universally misunderstood. Here's exactly what you have to declare when uploading an AI-assisted book to KDP — and what you don't.

The two terms Amazon distinguishes

• AI-generated content — text or images created by AI that you then publish with minimal or no editing.
• AI-assisted content — content you wrote, then used AI to brainstorm, edit, refine, or check.

Amazon requires you to disclose AI-generated content. AI-assisted content does not require disclosure. Where this gets murky is the gray middle — and Amazon's guidance is to err on the side of disclosing.

What disclosure actually does (and doesn't do)

Disclosure is internal to Amazon — it does not appear on your book's product page and does not warn customers. It's used by Amazon for catalog quality monitoring. There is no penalty for disclosing. There is a penalty (account suspension) for not disclosing when you should have.

Common scenarios and how to handle them

• You wrote the manuscript, AI helped edit grammar — AI-assisted, no disclosure required.
• AI drafted chapters, you heavily rewrote them — disclose as AI-generated text. Amazon's bar is whether AI created the underlying content, not who finalized it.
• You wrote the story, AI generated the illustrations — disclose AI-generated images.
• AI generated the entire book and you uploaded as-is — disclose both text and images.
• AI-generated cover only — disclose AI-generated images.

The 3-question rule

Before publishing, ask: (1) Did AI create any text in this book? (2) Did AI create any image in this book? (3) Did AI create the cover? If yes to any, declare it during upload. It takes 10 seconds and protects your account.

What's not changing in 2026

Amazon has not banned AI books and shows no signs of doing so. They've banned spam AI books — low-quality, mass-uploaded titles. As long as you're publishing real books at a normal cadence and disclosing properly, you're operating well within KDP's rules.