OpenAI Fights Order to Share ChatGPT User Logs in Copyright Suit

OpenAI has asked a federal judge in New York to reverse an order requiring it to turn over 20 million anonymised ChatGPT chat logs. The artificial intelligence organisation argued this action would expose users' private conversations amid a copyright infringement lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed by The New York Times and other news outlets.

The organisation contended that sharing the logs would disclose confidential user information. OpenAI further asserted that 99.99% of the transcripts have no connection to the copyright infringement allegations in the case.

In a court filing, OpenAI stated, "To be clear: anyone in the world who has used ChatGPT in the past three years must now face the possibility that their personal conversations will be handed over to The Times to sift through at will in a speculative fishing expedition."

Credit: OpenAI

The news outlets argued the logs are necessary to determine if ChatGPT reproduced their copyrighted content. This also serves to rebut OpenAI’s assertion that they "hacked" the chatbot’s responses to manufacture evidence.

The lawsuit claims OpenAI misused the news outlets’ articles to train ChatGPT to respond to user prompts. This forms a central part of the copyright infringement allegations.

Magistrate Judge Ona Wang issued the order to produce the chats. Wang stated that users' privacy would be protected by the company's "exhaustive de-identification" and other safeguards. OpenAI has a Friday deadline to produce the transcripts.

OpenAI Chief Information Security Officer Dane Stuckey said in a blog post on Wednesday that sharing the logs would violate privacy and security protections. Stuckey added it would "force us to turn over tens of millions of highly personal conversations from people who have no connection to the Times’ baseless lawsuit."

A New York Times spokesperson countered that OpenAI’s blog post "purposely misleads its users and omits the facts." The spokesperson maintained, "No ChatGPT user’s privacy is at risk."

The spokesperson clarified that "The court ordered OpenAI to provide a sample of chats, anonymized by OpenAI itself, under a legal protective order." The OpenAI case is one of several pending lawsuits against technology companies concerning the alleged misuse of copyrighted work to train artificial intelligence systems.

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• OpenAI is seeking to overturn a court order to share 20 million anonymised ChatGPT chat logs.

• The organisation cites user privacy concerns and claims the majority of logs are irrelevant to the case.

• The New York Times and other news outlets allege copyright infringement, stating the logs are crucial for evidence.

Source: REUTERS