LLM Providers · LLM Provider / AI Assistant · Private litigation
OpenAI (ChatGPT / Sora)
Headline
In May 2025 a federal magistrate ordered OpenAI to preserve every ChatGPT output log indefinitely - overriding both its own 30-day deletion policy and users' explicit delete requests - and Judge Stein affirmed it on…
In May 2025 a federal magistrate ordered OpenAI to preserve every ChatGPT output log indefinitely - overriding both its own 30-day deletion policy and users' explicit delete requests - and Judge Stein affirmed it on appeal in June, rejecting the argument that user privacy should outweigh discovery. Normal deletion only resumed in October 2025, but everything captured inside the window stayed in storage, and in January 2026 the court upheld an order pushing 20 million conversations into discovery. None of those users were notified or given any chance to object; individual users who tried to intervene were denied as non-parties. In July 2026 the publishers moved for sanctions, alleging OpenAI destroyed output logs despite the preservation orders, including replacing more than a million requested logs with other conversations. Sam Altman has publicly acknowledged people treat ChatGPT like a therapist, lawyer, or priest - and that those conversations can be subpoenaed, because no privilege attaches to any of it.
- Severity
- Evidence tierUnassigned
- Claims confirmed
- Last verified2026-08-04
Case status. Private litigation; the legal tier of its sources has not been assigned yet.
Primary source. www.thurrott.com/a-i/openai-a-i/330404/openai-must-turn-over-chatgpt-logs-in-new-york-times-case — Verified - primary source confirmed.
Terms
Arbitration
Y - mandatory individual arbitration (NAM) plus class and jury trial waivers; 30-day opt-out window from account creation or from any update to the arbitration terms, via a form. Arbitrator is a retired judge or CA-licensed attorney; SF state/federal courts retain authority over enforceability and public injunctive relief. Batch arbitration provision applies.
Data sharing
Consumer default is training-on-your-content unless you opt out (Settings > Data Controls). Users retain ownership of Input and are assigned rights to Output, but OpenAI takes a broad license to use both to operate and improve services. Standard consumer deletion is 30 days for deleted/temporary chats; API 30 days. Business/Enterprise and Zero Data Retention API customers are carved out of training by default.
Fees and billing
Liability cap is the greater of 12 months of fees paid or $100. Outputs disclaimed AS IS with an explicit accuracy disclaimer - reliance risk sits with the user, including for professional advice.
Contacts
Privacy contact. privacy@openai.com (data-subject requests: dsar@openai.com; portal: privacy.openai.com)
Legal notice. Not verified this pass. If publicly traded: SEC Form 10-K cover page gives the official corporate address; the Secretary of State business-entity search in the state of incorporation gives the registered agent, which must accept service. If private: the state registered agent is usually the only reliable route.
Mailing address. OpenAI OpCo, LLC, 1455 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
Evidence
| Claim | Kind | Support | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. In May 2025 a federal magistrate ordered OpenAI to preserve every ChatGPT output log. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 2. The preservation order overrode OpenAI's 30-day deletion policy and users' delete requests. | fact | unknown | 1 (1 confirmed) |
| 3. Judge Stein affirmed the preservation order on appeal in June 2025. | fact | unsupported | 1 (1 confirmed) |
| 4. Judge Stein rejected the argument that user privacy should outweigh discovery. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 5. Normal deletion resumed in October 2025. | fact | unsupported | 1 (0 confirmed) |
| 6. Everything captured during the preservation window stayed in storage. | fact | unknown | none recorded |
| 7. A court ordered 20 million ChatGPT conversations into discovery. | fact | supported | none recorded |
| 8. In January 2026 the court upheld the 20-million-conversation order. | fact | unsupported | 1 (1 confirmed) |
| 9. Users were not notified or given any chance to object. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 10. Individual users who tried to intervene were denied as non-parties. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 11. In July 2026 the publishers moved for sanctions alleging OpenAI deleted or compressed billions of conversations. | fact | unsupported | 1 (1 confirmed) |
| 12. Sam Altman acknowledged people treat ChatGPT like a therapist, lawyer or priest. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
| 13. Sam Altman acknowledged these conversations can be subpoenaed because no privilege attaches. | fact | unsupported | none recorded |
4 of 13 claims have a confirmed source of their own.
Sources
| Source | Claim | Tier | Status | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| court · 2025-05-13 | Claim 2 | Unassigned | confirmed | “whether such data might be deleted at a user's request” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| court · 2025-06-26 | Claim 3 | Unassigned | confirmed | “the Open AI defendants' objection to Magistrate Judge Wang's May 13, 2025, Order [Doc. No. 33] is denied” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| court · 2025-10-09 | Claim 5 | Unassigned | corrected | “ongoing obligation ... is terminated as of September 26, 2025” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| court · 2026-01-05 | Claim 8 | Unassigned | confirmed | “OpenAI's objections ... are denied and the orders are affirmed” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| court · 2026-07-09 www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.640396/gov.uscourts.nysd.640396.1617.1.pdf | Claim 11 | Unassigned | confirmed | “OpenAI deleted or compressed billions of ChatGPT conversations” Quote basis: not recorded. |
Source vault
Link status: Candidate - not yet fetched
| Document | Last fetch | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy policy https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/ | Not fetched yet | N |
| Terms of service https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use/ | Not fetched yet | N |
| Website No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | — |
| Primary source https://www.thurrott.com/a-i/openai-a-i/330404/openai-must-turn-over-chatgpt-logs-in-new-york-times-case Verification: Verified - primary source confirmed | Not fetched yet | — |
Enforcement
No enforcement actions are linked to this row.
State statute
No HQ state on file, so no state statute applies by headquarters.