OpenAI Appeals NYT’s Request To Store User Chats Indefinitely

OpenAI defends against a legal requirement from The New York Times, which demands the company maintain all ChatGPT user data indefinitely, including deleted chats and API content.

OpenAI and Microsoft faced copyright infringement litigation from The New York Times in 2023, after the newspaper claimed they used millions of its articles to train their AI systems.  Along with other plaintiffs, the Times is now asking the court to compel OpenAI to retain all user conversations permanently.

The Verge reports that Times maintains that maintaining user data will enable them to preserve evidence needed for their legal case.

OpenAI opposes this demand because it violates their privacy commitments and standard industry practices, while failing to advance the lawsuit resolution process.

“We strongly believe this is an overreach,” said Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer. “We’re continuing to appeal this order so we can keep putting your trust and privacy first.”

The data retention order affects all ChatGPT users who subscribe to Free, Plus, Pro, and Team plans, together with API users who do not have Zero Data Retention agreements. The order does not impact business customers who use ChatGPT Enterprise or ChatGPT Edu, or API customers who have Zero Data Retention settings activated.

OpenAI states that it follows a standard procedure to erase user chats and API data during a 30 day period. Under this court order, the company must maintain all data, including deleted information. OpenAI explains that the stored data exists in secure systems, which only a limited legal and security team can access, without automatic sharing with the plaintiffs.

OpenAI continues to fight against the court-issued order. The company stated that this legal dispute does not affect their AI training procedures, because business data remains exempt from training by default, and users maintain control over chat improvements for ChatGPT.