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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Yes, OpenAI temporarily preserved some ChatGPT and API data that would normally have been deleted because of a court order in The New York Times’ copyright lawsuit. But the widely repeated claim that OpenAI is permanently storing every deleted ChatGPT conversation is inaccurate.
The prospective requirement to preserve new covered data ended on September 26, 2025, according to OpenAI. A limited historical set from April through September 2025 remains under legal hold, while OpenAI’s ordinary deletion rules generally apply again.
What the court ordered
On May 13, 2025, a federal magistrate judge ordered OpenAI to preserve and segregate output-log data that otherwise would have been deleted. The order was issued in the New York Times’ copyright litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft.
That distinction matters:
- Preservation means keeping data that might otherwise be deleted.
- Production means turning data over to another party in litigation.
- Access means allowing authorized lawyers, experts, or other participants to inspect it.
- Legal hold is a restricted preservation status that suspends ordinary deletion practices.
The May order required preservation; it did not automatically mean that every preserved conversation was immediately handed to The New York Times or made public. Read the order.
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Were manually deleted chats included?
During the preservation period, OpenAI said the order covered deleted ChatGPT conversations and API content that normally would have been removed within 30 days. The court order also addressed data marked for deletion or deleted at a user’s request.
However, “deleted” does not necessarily mean instantly and irreversibly erased from every backend system. A chat can disappear from a user’s visible history while remaining in a deletion queue or, during the legal hold, in segregated preserved storage. The public materials do not establish that every deleted conversation from every user was successfully preserved.
OpenAI’s explanation of the affected data and products is available in its response to the Times’ data demands.
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Who was affected?
OpenAI said the 2025 preservation order affected:
- ChatGPT Free users;
- ChatGPT Plus users;
- ChatGPT Pro users; and
- API customers without a qualifying Zero Data Retention arrangement.
OpenAI said ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu were excluded, and that qualifying Zero Data Retention API data was not impacted because it was not retained in the ordinary way. Business and API customers should still check their specific contracts, endpoints, workspace settings, and eligibility rather than assuming that every arrangement has identical treatment.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchDid “indefinite” mean forever?
In 2025, OpenAI described the order as requiring indefinite retention going forward. In this context, “indefinite” meant that the data had no fixed deletion date while the legal obligation remained in force. It did not necessarily mean permanent retention forever, universal retention of all historical chats, unrestricted employee access, automatic disclosure, or authorization to use the data for model training.
OpenAI later said its obligation to retain new consumer ChatGPT and covered API data indefinitely ended on September 26, 2025. In an October 22, 2025 update, it said ordinary retention practices had resumed for new data, while a limited historical set from April through September 2025 remained under legal hold because the litigation continued.
What happens when you delete a ChatGPT conversation now?
Under OpenAI’s stated standard policy, deleting a chat removes it from your visible history immediately and schedules it for permanent deletion within 30 days, subject to legal, security, and de-identification exceptions. See OpenAI’s chat and file retention policy.
Temporary Chat is not an instant-erasure mode. OpenAI says Temporary Chats are normally deleted within 30 days, also subject to legal and security exceptions.
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Archiving is different from deleting: an archived conversation is hidden from the main history but retained in the account. If you want a chat removed, use the delete option rather than archive.
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Was the data sent to The New York Times?
The legal process developed in stages:
- The Times sought access to conversation data in its copyright case.
- The May 2025 order required preservation of data that would otherwise have been deleted.
- OpenAI said the preserved material was segregated under legal hold and was not automatically shared with the Times.
- Later court disputes addressed whether a historical sample should be produced, with de-identification and other controls.
OpenAI later described a court-ordered production dispute involving approximately 20 million historical conversations, randomly sampled from December 2022 through November 2024, according to OpenAI. That is not the same as saying that every deleted conversation was given to the Times or published online.
The later dispute involved questions about relevance, privacy, sampling, data processing, and de-identification. OpenAI’s account appears in its privacy-related litigation update and a December 2025 court filing. These materials describe contested litigation positions, not a finding that ordinary ChatGPT employees could freely browse users’ deleted conversations.
Could preserved chats be used to train models?
Preserving data for litigation and using it for model training are separate purposes. OpenAI said the court order did not change its stated training controls. It also says business data is not used for training by default and that consumer users can control whether chats are used to improve ChatGPT through their settings.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →A legal hold by itself does not authorize model-training use. Users should nevertheless review the applicable product policy and account settings before entering sensitive information.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this means for your privacy
If you deleted a sensitive chat during the April–September 2025 period, the public record cannot tell you whether that particular conversation was preserved. OpenAI has not publicly established the number of affected users or the number of manually deleted chats actually retained.
For future use:
- Delete chats you no longer need, but do not treat deletion as instantaneous destruction of every copy.
- Do not confuse archiving with deletion.
- Use Temporary Chat for limited-retention conversations, not as a guarantee of zero storage.
- Check whether you are using a consumer account, a business workspace, or an API endpoint.
- Organizations should review workspace retention settings and contractual terms.
- Developers needing stronger non-retention controls should investigate whether a qualifying Zero Data Retention API arrangement is available for their account and endpoint.
- Avoid entering passwords, payment credentials, highly sensitive health information, or confidential legal material unless the chosen product and contract are appropriate.
No hosted AI service should be treated as immune from valid legal process. Zero Data Retention arrangements can limit a provider’s routine retention, but they are not a universal guarantee concerning data held elsewhere or every possible legal obligation.
The timeline in brief
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| December 2023 | The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright issues. |
| May 13, 2025 | A federal court ordered preservation of output-log data that otherwise would have been deleted. |
| June 2025 | OpenAI publicly explained which consumer and API products it said were affected. |
| September 26, 2025 | OpenAI said the prospective indefinite-retention obligation ended. |
| October 22, 2025 | OpenAI announced that ordinary retention practices had resumed for new data. |
| Late 2025 | Further disputes concerned production, de-identification, and a historical sample of approximately 20 million conversations. |
What remains unknown
The public record does not conclusively show:
- how many deleted chats were preserved;
- how many users were affected;
- whether any particular reader’s deleted conversation remains under legal hold;
- the final disposition of every historical record; or
- whether later court orders or appeals changed the status of specific data after the cited filings.
Those uncertainties are why a headline saying “OpenAI is storing every deleted ChatGPT conversation” goes too far.
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