Technology
Tech companies expand AI memory capabilities, raising new user privacy questions
AI assistants are increasingly storing user interactions and computer activity to personalize features and targeted advertising.
The short version
- Tech giants including OpenAI, Google, and Meta are rolling out updates that allow AI assistants to draw context from past chats, computer activity, and connected apps.
- While memory features can improve personalization, they also build highly detailed digital profiles of users' routines, interests, and potentially sensitive information.
- The privacy landscape remains complex, with data practices and user controls varying significantly across different AI platforms.
Key facts
- OpenAI introduced a "Computer History" feature for its macOS desktop app on August 13, allowing ChatGPT to use interaction events from apps and websites as context.[Fox News]
- Google's updated Search Services History, when "Save Media" is active, can retain uploaded images, audio, and video to train AI models; this training data can remain in their systems for up to four years even after being disconnected from the user's account.[Fox News]
- Meta implemented changes on December 16, 2025, allowing generative AI interactions to influence content recommendations and advertising across its products, though it excludes health, political, and religious topics.[Fox News]
- OpenAI began testing advertisements in ChatGPT for eligible free tiers in the U.S. on February 9, utilizing chat context and memories to target ads unless users opt out via ad controls.[Fox News]
- To address privacy concerns, Meta announced an "Incognito Chat" for WhatsApp and its Meta AI app on May 13, 2025, which processes chats in a secure environment and does not save messages.[Fox News]
- The United States still lacks a single comprehensive federal privacy law governing consumer data collection by AI companies, leaving oversight primarily to state regulations and Federal Trade Commission enforcement.[Fox News]
What remains uncertain
- The full rollout schedule for Meta's Incognito Chat remains undefined as it is being deployed over several months.[Fox News]