OpenAI Wins Relief in Copyright Battle as Court Lifts Controversial ChatGPT Data Order A federal court has terminated a controversial order that required OpenAI to indefinitely preserve all records of its ChatGPT user data. The decision, filed by Judge Ona T. Wang on October 9, releases the AI company from the obligation to preserve and segregate all output log data that it would normally delete as part of its regular operations. This legal situation stems from a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the New York Times against OpenAI and its partner Microsoft in late 2023. The news organization alleged that OpenAI trained its powerful AI models using the Times intellectual property without permission or providing compensation. Earlier this year, in May, the court had sided with the Times, issuing a preservation order that compelled OpenAI to retain all of its ChatGPT chat logs. This was intended to allow the New York Times to investigate its claims of systematic copyright violation. OpenAI quickly appealed that decision, arguing that the sweeping order was a significant overreach and posed a substantial risk to the privacy of its vast user base. The company contended that being forced to keep all data indefinitely was an unreasonable burden. The judges new order marks a significant victory for OpenAI. It means the company is no longer required to preserve new ChatGPT chat logs created after September 26. There are, however, some important exceptions to this new freedom. Any chat logs that were already saved under the previous, broader preservation order will remain accessible for the legal proceedings. Furthermore, OpenAI is still mandated to hold onto any data related to specific ChatGPT accounts that have been explicitly flagged by the New York Times legal team. As the case continues, the New York Times is permitted to expand the list of flagged user accounts as it sifts through the existing preserved records from OpenAI. This allows the discovery process to continue, but within a more confined scope that balances the needs of the plaintiff with the operational and privacy concerns raised by OpenAI. The ruling narrows the focus of the data preservation, moving away from a blanket approach to a more targeted one. This case is being closely watched as it touches on critical issues of copyright, artificial intelligence training data, and user privacy in the rapidly evolving world of generative AI.
