OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently issued a serious warning about user privacy while speaking on comedian Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend. He revealed that conversations with ChatGPT, even when deeply personal, are not legally confidential. Unlike discussions with licensed professionals such as therapists, lawyers, or doctors—who are bound by confidentiality laws—talking to an AI like ChatGPT does not offer the same legal protections. “People talk about the most personal details in their lives to ChatGPT,” Altman said. “Young people especially use it like a therapist or life coach. But there’s no legal privilege for those conversations—we haven’t figured that out yet.”
Altman expressed concern that personal information shared with the chatbot could be disclosed in legal proceedings. “If you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and there’s a lawsuit or whatever, we could be required to produce that, and I think that’s very screwed up,” he said. As more people turn to generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity for emotional support and advice, privacy experts are echoing his concerns and warning users not to treat AI conversations as private.
He also proposed the idea of “AI privilege”—a legal standard that would treat conversations with AI chatbots as confidential, similar to doctor-patient or attorney-client communications. “We should have the same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist,” Altman added. The issue has become even more pressing as OpenAI faces a copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times. As part of the legal proceedings, a U.S. court has ordered OpenAI to preserve and segregate all ChatGPT data that would normally be deleted. The order, issued on May 13, 2025, by Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang and upheld on June 26 by District Judge Sidney Stein, applies to users of ChatGPT Free, Plus, Pro, and Team plans. However, enterprise and educational users are exempt.
Under normal policy, deleted chats are removed from OpenAI servers within 30 days. But due to the court order, even deleted conversations are now being retained indefinitely and could be used in legal discovery. This has raised alarm among privacy advocates, especially since OpenAI’s privacy policy states that user data may be shared with third parties, including government authorities, to meet legal obligations or prevent harm.
Until new legal protections are in place, users are strongly advised to treat AI conversations as unsecured digital communication. For legal, medical, or emotional matters, experts continue to recommend speaking with licensed professionals who are bound by strict confidentiality laws. OpenAI has not yet issued an official statement in response to Altman’s remarks, but the conversation around AI privacy is intensifying as lawmakers and tech leaders explore ways to regulate these technologies.
