OpeAI CEO Warns ChatGPT Conversations Not Legally Protected, May Be Used in Court

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has raised concerns over the lack of legal protections for users of ChatGPT, warning that conversations with the AI chatbot could be admissible as evidence in court.

Speaking during an episode of This Past Weekend, a podcast hosted by American comedian Theo Von, Altman highlighted the deeply personal nature of many interactions with ChatGPT and called for urgent development of a legal framework to address privacy concerns.

“I think we will certainly need a legal policy framework for AI,” Altman said. “One example that we’ve been thinking about a lot… people talk about the most personal shit in their lives to ChatGPT.”

He explained that many users—especially younger ones—use the AI tool for emotional support and guidance.

“Young people especially use it as a therapist, a life coach, having these relationship problems and asking, ‘What should I do?’” he said.

However, Altman made it clear that unlike professionals such as doctors or lawyers, ChatGPT is not currently covered by any legal privilege.

“If you talk to a therapist or a lawyer or a doctor about those problems, there’s legal privilege for it,” he noted.
“There’s doctor-patient confidentiality, there’s legal confidentiality. We haven’t figured that out yet for when you talk to ChatGPT.”

Altman warned that the absence of such protections creates serious risks for users, particularly in legal contexts.

“If you go talk to ChatGPT about the most sensitive stuff and then there’s a lawsuit or whatever, we could be required to produce that,” he said.
“If someone confides their most personal issues to ChatGPT, and that ends up in legal proceedings, we could be compelled to hand that over. And that’s a real problem.”

Describing the current state of affairs as “very screwed up,” Altman called for immediate steps to establish clear protections for AI-related communications.

“I think we should have the same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist or whatever,” he said.
“And no one had to think about that even a year ago.”

Altman’s remarks come as global regulators and tech experts continue to grapple with the fast-evolving landscape of AI, raising questions about data protection, ethics, and the legal treatment of machine-generated interactions.