OpenAI says ChatGPT feature letting users disable chat history now available

Users began being able to do so Tuesday

ChatGPT users can now decide whether to enable or disable their chat history on the artificial intelligence tool.

By accessing their settings in ChatGPT’s sidebar, users can select the new option to make it so that the chatbot does not use interactions with it for training its models, according to an illustration OpenAI published that depicts the control. OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed company behind the chatbot, unveiled the new feature in a Tuesday blog post

The option to switch off chat history began going live the same day.

ChatGPT logo

ChatGPT logo is seen in this illustration taken, Feb. 3, 2023. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo / Reuters Photos)

OpenAI said the new chat history feature being engaged means users’ chats "won’t appear in the history sidebar" as well as not letting models use conversations. 

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The company said it hopes the new feature "provides an easier way to manage your data than our existing opt-out process."

"When chat history is disabled, we will retain new conversations for 30 days and review them only when needed to monitor for abuse, before permanently deleting," OpenAI said. 

Users can choose to turn their chat history on or off whenever they want.

ChatGPT

The logo of the chatbot ChatGPT from the company OpenAI can be seen on a smartphone on April 3, 2023 in Berlin. (Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images / Getty Images)

At the same time, the company said that a ChatGPT Business subscription "for professionals who need more control over their data as well as enterprises seeking to manage their end users" is in the works and that exporting stored data via email has become available. 

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The public first became able to use ChatGPT in late 2022. The tool, which has become very popular, recently drew attention from officials in Italy in connection to regulations on privacy.

There has been competition in the AI chatbot space, with Google first revealing its experimental Bard in February. Initially, "trusted testers" only could use Bard, though Google has since widened the number of people it lets begin using it. 

ChatGPT and Bard AI

Google Bard versus OpenAI ChatGPT displayed on Mobile with Openai and Google logo on screen seen in this photo illustration on Feb. 7, 2023 in Brussels. (Photo Illustration by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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On Friday, the company brought capabilities such as "code generation, debugging and code explanation" to Bard.