Court Orders OpenAI to Preserve ChatGPT User Data

A federal court ordered OpenAI in May 2025 to indefinitely preserve all ChatGPT conversations, including deleted ones, as part of a copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times, which seeks evidence of unauthorized reproduction of its articles. The order applies to users of ChatGPT Free, Plus, Pro, Team, and API, but exempts Enterprise, Edu, and those covered by zero data retention agreements. OpenAI has appealed, arguing the order is an unprecedented overreach that threatens user privacy, may violate data protection laws such as the EU's GDPR, and forces changes to its established privacy practices. The New York Times asserts the data is crucial for proving potential copyright violations. The dispute highlights the broader industry debate over the use of copyrighted content for AI model training and the balance between legal discovery and user privacy. Until further court instructions, OpenAI is required to retain the specified user data indefinitely.