Photo by Kevin Ku on Pexels

In response to an ongoing copyright lawsuit brought by The New York Times, OpenAI is now retaining deleted ChatGPT conversations indefinitely. This measure, mandated by a court order, impacts users across all ChatGPT tiers, including free, Pro, Plus, and Team accounts. OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap confirmed the preservation effort and announced the company’s intention to appeal the decision. The data will be kept secure, accessible only to a limited and audited legal and security team at OpenAI. The New York Times initiated legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023, accusing them of using copyrighted material from their publications to train AI models. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has criticized the data preservation request as an overreach and a potential violation of user privacy.