ChatGPT
OpenAI · United States
What it is
OpenAI’s general-purpose AI assistant, and a widely used chat tool. It drafts and edits text, answers questions, analyses documents and images, writes and runs code, and offers voice, image generation, a Deep Research mode and an agent mode. It runs on the web, as desktop and mobile apps, and through an API that many other products are built on.
How it works
ChatGPT is a product built on OpenAI’s GPT family of large language models. (The point versions move quickly, so we describe the family rather than a release that will date.) Around the model sit product features: web search, file upload, persistent Memory, custom GPTs, Projects and a large set of connectors. What you can do, and how your data is handled, depends far more on your plan than on the underlying model.
Who is behind it
- Owner
- OpenAI. After a recapitalisation effective 28 October 2025, the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation controls OpenAI Group PBC, a Delaware public-benefit corporation (the earlier "capped-profit" structure and the profit cap were removed). Microsoft is the largest outside investor, at roughly 27%. CEO Sam Altman.
- Founded
- Founded in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab; ChatGPT launched in November–December 2022.
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States; incorporated in Delaware. For users outside the US the consumer terms are governed by California law.
Plans
- ChatGPT Free / Go / Plus / Pro · Consumer (free / paid)Personal accounts; trains on your chats by default unless you turn it off in Data Controls.
- ChatGPT Business (formerly Team) · TeamFor smaller organisations; does not train on your content by default.
- ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu · Enterprise / WorkspaceNo training, admin retention controls, security certifications, data residency.
- OpenAI API (incl. Zero Data Retention) · API directThe model layer for developers; no training on inputs, ZDR available on approval.
How it handles your data
The plan is what matters. On the consumer plans — Free, Go, Plus and Pro — OpenAI trains on your conversations by default; you can switch that off in Data Controls, use Temporary Chat, and delete history (roughly 30-day deletion thereafter). ChatGPT Business (formerly Team), Enterprise and Edu do not train on your content, add administrator retention controls and security certifications, and limit human review to safety and legal purposes. The API does not train on inputs (training is opt-in only) and offers Zero Data Retention on approval. One retention caution worth knowing: a United States court order in the New York Times litigation forced OpenAI to preserve consumer and non-ZDR API logs for a period in 2025 even where users had deleted them. OpenAI says that obligation ended on 26 September 2025, with a limited April to September 2025 set still held, and Enterprise, Edu and Zero-Data-Retention use were exempt. On residency, OpenAI offers storage regions including Australia and the EU, but inference still defaults to the United States. The ChatGPT Terms of Service comprise a number of separate, interconnected documents.
Sources for this description
- How your data is used to improve model performance — OpenAIlive sourcePerma.cc recordas at 31 May 2026
- Data Controls FAQ (the training opt-out) — OpenAIlive sourcePerma.cc recordas at 31 May 2026
- Enterprise privacy at OpenAI — OpenAIlive sourcePerma.cc recordas at 31 May 2026
- Data controls in the OpenAI platform (API) — OpenAIlive sourcePerma.cc recordas at 31 May 2026
- Privacy Policy — OpenAIlive sourcePerma.cc recordas at 31 May 2026
- How we’re responding to the NYT’s data demands (retention) — OpenAIlive sourcePerma.cc recordas at 31 May 2026
- About OpenAI (company facts and structure) — OpenAIlive sourceas at 31 May 2026
What is safe, on which plan
Each cell summarises what the provider’s terms and the applicable rules say. The colour is our summary of the sources, not advice — select a cell to read the reasoning and follow the sources yourself.
- Green
- Amber
- Red
- Black
- Not yet assessed
| Data category | Consumer (free / paid) | Team | Enterprise / Workspace | API direct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Public information | ||||
| 2. Internal non-confidential | ||||
| 3. Internal confidential (non-privileged) | ||||
| 4. Legally privileged | ||||
| 5. Personal information (Privacy Act 2020) | ||||
| 6. Sensitive personal information | ||||
| 7. Children’s information | ||||
| 8. Court-protected material |
1. Public information
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
2. Internal non-confidential
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
3. Internal confidential (non-privileged)
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
4. Legally privileged
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
5. Personal information (Privacy Act 2020)
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
6. Sensitive personal information
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
7. Children’s information
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
8. Court-protected material
- Consumer (free / paid)
- Team
- Enterprise / Workspace
- API direct
Select any cell to see what the sources say and why.
Statements about provider terms, plans, and defaults will go stale. This profile names its last review date above.
Where to next
Our framework
The reference behind every answer: the eight kinds of information, the five plans, and what each colour means.
Our frameworkGuidance
Our view on the four questions to ask before you use a tool — confidentiality, privilege, privacy, and the professional rules.
GuidanceAbout us
Who is behind this, how we keep it reliable, and why you can trust it.
About us