- The New York Times requests that all Chatgpt conversations be preserved as part of its trial against Openai and Microsoft
- This would mean that a list of all your chatgpt conversations would be held, potentially forever
- Openai claims that chats with AI should be a private conversation
Back in December 2023, the New York Times launched a lawsuit against Openai and Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement. The New York Times claims that Openai had trained its chatgpt model, which also runs Microsoft’s copilot by “copying and spending millions” of its articles without permission.
The lawsuit is still in progress and, as part of it, the New York Times (and other plaintiffs involved in the case) made the requirement that Openai will keep consumer chatgpt and API customer data indefinitely, much to Ire by Sam Altman, CEO of Openai, who went to X.com. To speak, ”we have been thinking of having a need for something like“ Ai privilege like talking to a lawyer or doctor.
Recently, new court asked a court to force us not to delete any user chats. We believe this was an inappropriate request that sets a bad precedent. We appeal to the decision. We will fight any requirement that compromises with our user’s privacy; This is a core principle.June 6, 2025
Openai describes the New York Times case case as “baseless”, and in a long -standing post on the Openai site entitled ‘How we respond to the New York Times’ data requirements to protect users ‘privacy’, Openai establishes its approach to privacy.
Brad Lightcap, COO, Openai, says the demand of new “is fundamentally in conflict with the confidentiality obligations we have made to our users. It gives up many years of privacy norms and weakens the protection of privacy.”
Private studies
As more and more people share intimate details of their lives with AI -Chatbots, which often assumes the role of a therapist, I can appreciate the need to be able to hold AI conversations private, but I can also see Nyt’s point of view that if there is evidence that they support its claims against Openai, it must have access to this Shares.
Currently, a chatgpt chat is removed from your account immediately when you delete the conversation and scheduled for permanent deletion from Openai systems within 30 days. The order would mean that even deleted chatgpt conversations should be preserved by Openai.
As a chatgpt -user myself, I have always appreciated the ability to be able to remove conversations completely. If Openai is forced to accommodate this request, it will affect virtually anyone who uses the service on either a free, plus, pro or teams (but not company or EDU account owners).
The order also does not affect API customers who use zero data storage points during Openais ZDR change.
Openai has said it has appealed to the order to the lawyer and will inform us when it knows more.
