Home / Technology / OpenAI Accuses NYT of Threatening Millions of Private User Chats
OpenAI Accuses NYT of Threatening Millions of Private User Chats
13 Nov
Summary
- OpenAI claims to be "one of the most targeted organizations in the world"
- OpenAI says NYT sought to expose 1.4 billion private chats, but they pushed back
- OpenAI argues that the data belongs to ChatGPT users worldwide, not the NYT
In a blog post published on November 9th, 2025, OpenAI claims to be "one of the most targeted organizations in the world" and accuses the New York Times of threatening the privacy of millions of sensitive ChatGPT user conversations. According to OpenAI, the Times at one point sought to expose 1.4 billion private chats, but the tech company says it "pushed back, and we're pushing back again now."
OpenAI argues that the data in question belongs to ChatGPT users all over the world—"families, students, teachers, government officials, financial analysts, programmers, lawyers, doctors, therapists, and even journalists"—and not to the Times. The company has submitted a filing asking the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to overturn a requirement that it hand over 20 million ChatGPT user conversations for the Times and its lawyers to peruse.
The Times, however, has dismissed OpenAI's concerns as "fear-mongering," stating that "no ChatGPT user's privacy is at risk" and that OpenAI is simply trying to "cover up its illegal conduct" of allegedly stealing copyrighted works to create competing products. The newspaper argues that OpenAI is supposed to provide a sample of anonymized chats under a legal protective order.
