OpenAI says the court-ordered, forward-looking requirement to preserve ChatGPT output logs ended on September 26, 2025. That did not mean all retained data was deleted, that data was handed to The New York Times, or that the copyright lawsuit was over: OpenAI said a limited historical set of data from April through September 2025 remained under a separate legal hold.
What did the court order OpenAI to preserve?
On May 13, 2025, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang ordered OpenAI to preserve and segregate output-log data that otherwise would have been deleted, including data marked for deletion at a user’s request. The requirement applied on a going-forward basis until further court order. The dispute concerned preserving potential evidence for discovery in publishers’ copyright litigation, including questions about whether ChatGPT output logs could be relevant to claims involving reproduction of publisher content. It was a litigation-preservation measure, not a general ruling about every OpenAI product or account’s data practices. Read the May 13 order.
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How the order developed
On May 16, Judge Wang denied OpenAI’s request for reconsideration without prejudice, finding insufficient cause at that point to modify the order. The court noted unresolved questions about whether logs marked for deletion differed from logs already retained and whether preservation was proportional to the case. On May 29, the court directed the parties to begin sampling 30-day tables of consumer output logs, denied reconsideration again, and deferred further preservation-related discovery until sampling was complete. See the May 16 order and the May 29 order.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWhen did the ChatGPT data-retention order end?
OpenAI’s October 22, 2025 update says its obligation under the earlier order ended on September 26, 2025. The date and account of compliance should be attributed to OpenAI: the precise text of a court order ending the forward-looking obligation is not established here. OpenAI’s statement is that the indefinite retention requirement ended, not that every data record covered by the earlier process was erased. Read OpenAI’s October 22 update.
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What happened to deleted chats and API data?
In the same October update, OpenAI said deleted ChatGPT conversations and Temporary Chats would return to automatic deletion within 30 days, and that API data would also be automatically deleted after 30 days. Those figures describe OpenAI’s stated ordinary practices at that time; they are not a guarantee that every data category follows an identical schedule or that legal and security exceptions do not apply. The announcement does not establish that deletion is immediate.
Did OpenAI keep historical data or give it to The New York Times?
OpenAI said it continued to securely store a limited historical set of user data from April through September 2025 under a separate legal hold. According to OpenAI, the material was locked down and accessible only to a small, audited legal and security team for legal obligations. OpenAI said it would not be turned over to The New York Times, the court, or anyone else “at this time.” This is OpenAI’s description and is explicitly time-qualified; it should not be read as proof that no data was retained or as a permanent statement about future proceedings. See OpenAI’s case-status page.
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| Data and period | Status described | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Output logs otherwise due for deletion on a going-forward basis | The May 2025 preservation order required preservation and segregation until further order; OpenAI says this obligation ended September 26, 2025. | The preservation requirement is in the May 13 court order; the end date is OpenAI’s October 22, 2025 account. Court order; OpenAI update. |
| Limited historical user data from April through September 2025 | OpenAI said it remained under a separate legal hold and was accessible only to a small, audited legal and security team. | OpenAI’s description on its case-status page; its statement about non-disclosure was qualified “at this time.” OpenAI case-status page. |
| Deleted ChatGPT conversations, Temporary Chats, and API data under ordinary practices | OpenAI said automatic deletion would occur within 30 days. | OpenAI’s October 22, 2025 description of standard practices, subject to legal and security exceptions. OpenAI update. |
Does the end of the order mean the lawsuit is over?
No. The preservation order dealt with handling potentially relevant records during discovery. It did not decide whether OpenAI infringed copyright by training models on publishers’ material, resolve fair-use questions, or end the underlying lawsuit. A later memorandum order dated August 6, 2026 addressed contributory copyright theories and trademark-dilution claims, including dismissal with prejudice of certain claims and denial of proposed amendments against Microsoft; it is a separate development, not the order that ended the 2025 preservation requirement. Read the August 6, 2026 memorandum order.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesOpenAI’s case-status page describes a separate later production dispute involving 20 million retained, de-identified consumer ChatGPT output logs. That figure concerns production, not the scope of the May 2025 forward-looking preservation order. OpenAI’s case-status page.
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