US Judge Orders OpenAI to Hand Over Richard Kim’s ChatGPT Records in Crypto Fraud Probe

Federal Judge Lorna Schofield issued a warrant compelling OpenAI to provide the ChatGPT account data of Richard Kim, the former head of the cryptocurrency startup Zero Edge. The order covers all prompts, responses and account details from October 2023 through May 2026. Kim is charged in the United States with securities and wire fraud for allegedly diverting roughly $3.8 million of investor money into crypto trading and online gambling, and he has pleaded not guilty.

Kim’s defense argued that the AI conversations should be protected by attorney‑client privilege. The judge rejected that claim, stating that a chatbot is not a lawyer and the communications do not meet the legal criteria for privilege. The ruling treats the AI logs as third‑party digital evidence, similar to email or SMS records. The decision aligns with an earlier Manhattan case (United States v. Heppner) where exchanges with Anthropic’s Claude were also deemed non‑privileged.

OpenAI must produce the requested data, and Kim may later contest specific portions, but the precedent signals that AI‑generated content can be subject to legal discovery in criminal investigations.