Shop Owners: That ChatGPT Conversation About Your Problem Employee Could End Up in Court

You asked ChatGPT for advice about firing that tech who keeps showing up late.

You vented about the customer who's threatening to sue.

You even asked for help dealing with that OSHA violation you're fixing.

Here's what you didn't know: OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman just confirmed that ALL ChatGPT conversations can be subpoenaed in court. No legal protection. Zero.

This is already happening:

A California divorce lawyer got her client's husband's ChatGPT logs where he discussed hiding business assets
An employment lawsuit exposed conversations about "problem employees"
A customer injury case pulled chat logs showing the owner knew about safety issues

Think about what you've told AI:

Employee termination strategies
Customer complaint details (inside stuff that you wouldn't share in a public response when responding to a negative review)
Financial struggles
Competitor information
Safety violations you're "working on"

Your competitor's lawyer, that fired employee's attorney, or that slip-and-fall customer can demand every word.

Protect Your Shop Today:

Never discuss employee issues, lawsuits, or violations with AI that are sensitive in nature
Don't input customer data and be careful with business financials
Treat every AI conversation like it's being recorded (it is)
Use AI only for generic technical questions
Get legal advice from actual lawyers, not chatbots

The "delete conversation" button? Useless. Courts can still get it.

Bottom line: Before typing anything into ChatGPT, ask yourself: "Am I comfortable with this being read aloud in court?"

If not, don't type it.

Your business is too valuable to risk on "private" conversations that aren't private at all.

So be careful and stay safe out there.

#AutoRepairBusiness #ShopOwners #LegalProtection #BusinessSafety

4 comments