Background
In the consolidated copyright lawsuits against OpenAI, the court ordered preservation of user chat logs and related data that may be relevant to claims about how ChatGPT and other models were trained and operated. OpenAI resisted, arguing that indefinite retention would expose it to breaches of UK/EU GDPR erasure rights. The court rejected OpenAI’s objections and required preservation, reaffirming that litigation hold obligations take precedence in US proceedings.
AI interaction
The Court orders that Defendants 'preserve' all chat logs … 'until further order of the Court.’ The ruling makes clear that OpenAI must retain extensive user interaction data despite potential conflicts with international privacy law. This highlights a structural compliance dilemma for AI companies handling cross-border datasets: litigation holds under US law directly collide with GDPR erasure obligations, underscoring the tension between AI model development, data protection, and judicial discovery.