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Title: OpenAI Slams Court Order To Save All ChatGPT Logs, Including Deleted
Chats

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/06/04/20392...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: OpenAI is now fighting
a court order (PDF) to preserve all ChatGPT user logs-including deleted chats
and sensitive chats logged through its API business offering -- after news
organizations suing over copyright claims accused the AI company of
destroying evidence. "Before OpenAI had an opportunity to respond to those
unfounded accusations, the court ordered OpenAI to 'preserve and segregate
all output log data that would otherwise be deleted on a going forward basis
until further order of the Court (in essence, the output log data that OpenAI
has been destroying)," OpenAI explained in a court filing (PDF) demanding
oral arguments in a bid to block the controversial order. In the filing,
OpenAI alleged that the court rushed the order based only on a hunch raised
by The New York Times and other news plaintiffs. And now, without "any just
cause," OpenAI argued, the order "continues to prevent OpenAI from respecting
its users' privacy decisions." That risk extended to users of ChatGPT Free,
Plus, and Pro, as well as users of OpenAI's application programming interface
(API), OpenAI said. The court order came after news organizations expressed
concern that people using ChatGPT to skirt paywalls "might be more likely to
'delete all [their] searches' to cover their tracks," OpenAI explained.
Evidence to support that claim, news plaintiffs argued, was missing from the
record because so far, OpenAI had only shared samples of chat logs that users
had agreed that the company could retain. Sharing the news plaintiffs'
concerns, the judge, Ona Wang, ultimately agreed that OpenAI likely would
never stop deleting that alleged evidence absent a court order, granting news
plaintiffs' request to preserve all chats. OpenAI argued the May 13 order was
premature and should be vacated, until, "at a minimum," news organizations
can establish a substantial need for OpenAI to preserve all chat logs. They
warned that the privacy of hundreds of millions of ChatGPT users globally is
at risk every day that the "sweeping, unprecedented" order continues to be
enforced. "As a result, OpenAI is forced to jettison its commitment to allow
users to control when and how their ChatGPT conversation data is used, and
whether it is retained," OpenAI argued. Meanwhile, there is no evidence
beyond speculation yet supporting claims that "OpenAI had intentionally
deleted data," OpenAI alleged. And supposedly there is not "a single piece of
evidence supporting" claims that copyright-infringing ChatGPT users are more
likely to delete their chats. "OpenAI did not 'destroy' any data, and
certainly did not delete any data in response to litigation events," OpenAI
argued. "The Order appears to have incorrectly assumed the contrary." One
tech worker on LinkedIn suggested the order created "a serious breach of
contract for every company that uses OpenAI," while privacy advocates on X
warned, "every single AI service 'powered by' OpenAI should be concerned."
Also on LinkedIn, a consultant rushed to warn clients to be "extra careful"
sharing sensitive data "with ChatGPT or through OpenAI's API for now,"
warning, "your outputs could eventually be read by others, even if you opted
out of training data sharing or used 'temporary chat'!"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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