OpenAI · OpenAI Terms of Use

Content License Grant to OpenAI

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What it is

By using our Services, you grant OpenAI a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, and distribute your Content for the purpose of operating and improving the Services.

Why it matters

This license grant is broad and covers modification and distribution of your content globally without payment, which means creative work, proprietary business information, or personal data you input into OpenAI services is licensed to OpenAI for operational and improvement purposes.

Consumer impact

OpenAI's Terms of Use affect consumers primarily through the default permission for OpenAI to use conversation data — including prompts and AI outputs — to improve its AI models, which means sensitive or personal information shared with ChatGPT may be retained and analyzed beyond the immediate session. Minors under 13 are prohibited from using the services, and those aged 13–17 require verifiable parental consent, but the adequacy of age verification mechanisms is not detailed in the terms themselves. You can opt out of having your conversations used for model training by navigating to your ChatGPT account settings and disabling the 'Improve the model for everyone' toggle.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Delete Your Data
    Submit a data deletion request through OpenAI's Privacy Portal at privacy.openai.com to request deletion of your conversation history and associated content. You can also delete individual conversations directly within ChatGPT settings.

Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The breadth of the content license grant may constitute an unfair or deceptive practice under FTC Act Section 5 if consumers are not adequately informed of the scope of rights they are granting over their inputs at the point of agreement.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
OpenAI Terms of Use
Entity
OpenAI
Document last updated
March 24, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 10, 2026
Last verified
April 4, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-000076
Document ID
CA-D-00009
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
6ae7df627f8ff0f0434212dde1986e4d1bfced272b18d29c3cea01e80cf3dbb0
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: OpenAI | Document: OpenAI Terms of Use | Record: CA-P-000076
Captured: 2026-03-10 03:23:22 UTC | SHA-256: 6ae7df627f8ff0f0…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/openai/openai-terms-of-use/content-license-grant-to-openai/
Accessed: April 4, 2026
Classification
Severity
High
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