Be Careful Chatting with ChatGPT, It Could Be Used as Evidence in Court

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia –OpenAI CEO Sam Altman issued a stern warning to ChatGPT users who use the chatbot as a place to vent or for therapy. This is because user conversations with ChatGPT are not legally protected and could be used as evidence in court.

Altman delivered this warning on the podcast “This Past Weekend with Theo Von.” He said that many people are now relying on chatbots to discuss personal matters, but there is no legal framework that protects these conversations like a conversation with a therapist or lawyer.

“So if you talk to ChatGPT about sensitive matters, and then there’s a lawsuit or something like that, we could be asked to release those conversations. And I think that’s really messy,” Altman said in response to a question about the legal framework for AI, as quoted by PCMag on Sunday (August 3, 2025).

Altman also revealed that OpenAI is currently required to retain all conversation history, including deleted ones, due to facing a lawsuit from The New York Times.

Altman emphasized the importance of legal clarity regarding human interactions with AI. He believes that, just like between a patient and a doctor, or a client and a lawyer, conversations with AI should have similar legal protections.

“If you’re talking to a therapist, lawyer, or doctor about personal matters, then legally there’s a right to privacy, like medical or legal confidentiality. But we don’t have that kind of regulation for ChatGPT yet,” Altman said. “I think we should have the same concept of privacy when someone talks to AI as we do when talking to a therapist.”

For now, Altman advises users to think twice before using ChatGPT to discuss personal issues, at least until there’s legal clarity protecting their privacy.

“I think it’s natural for people to want clarity on privacy, legal clarity, before really using [ChatGPT] seriously,” he concluded.

SOURCE : CNBC INDONESIA