The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has said that conversations people have with ChatGPT are not protected by law like talks with a lawyer, doctor, or therapist.
He shared this during an interview on comedian Theo Von’s podcast, *This Past Weekend*. Altman explained that many young people use ChatGPT like a therapist, asking about their personal lives, but do not know those chats are not confidential.
“We haven’t figured that out yet for ChatGPT,” Altman said. “If you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and then there’s like a lawsuit or whatever, we could be required to produce that.”
He said that it’s unfair and that AI chats should have the same privacy as therapy. “We should have the same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist — and no one had to think about that even a year ago,” he added.
Altman made the comments while OpenAI is fighting a court order in the United States that could force it to keep user chats. The company is appealing the decision, calling it an “overreach” and warning that it could set a dangerous example that puts user data at risk.
During the podcast, Theo Von admitted he doesn’t use ChatGPT because of privacy fears. Altman agreed and replied, “I think it makes sense to really want the privacy clarity before you use it a lot like the legal clarity.”
