OpenAI challenges court order to share 20M ChatGPT logs

What happened

OpenAI is opposing a court order that requires it to share 20 million ChatGPT user conversation logs with The New York Times. The dispute arises from a lawsuit filed by The New York Times alleging copyright violations related to the use of its articles in training ChatGPT. OpenAI has publicly criticized the newspaper’s demand and is appealing the court’s decision while stating it must comply with the law.

Why it matters

• The case raises significant privacy concerns about the retention and sharing of user conversation data.
• The lawsuit challenges how AI companies use copyrighted material for training their models.
• The court’s ruling could set precedent for data retention and access in AI-related copyright disputes.

Key facts

1. 1. The New York Times requested over 20 million ChatGPT user conversations sampled from December 2022 to November 2024.
2. 2. A magistrate judge ruled in May 2025 that OpenAI must preserve all future ChatGPT conversations, including those normally deleted within 30 days.
3. 3. OpenAI’s obligation under a prior legal order to retain consumer ChatGPT and API content indefinitely ended on September 26, 2025.