Yes, when the chat is about agency business. New York’s Freedom of Information Law covers information kept or produced for an agency “in any physical form whatsoever,” and the state’s Committee on Open Government has long advised that messages about public business are records even on a personal device. A ChatGPT chat used for agency work fits the same reading.
What does FOIL count as a record?
Almost anything. Public Officers Law section 86(4) defines a record as “any information kept, held, filed, produced, reproduced by, with or for an agency or the state legislature, in any physical form whatsoever.” The Court of Appeals has read that broadly since 1980: the test is whether information is kept or held “by, with or for an agency,” not who physically holds it.
Does that include a chat with an AI tool?
We found no New York court ruling or Committee opinion on AI chats yet, but the Committee’s reasoning on email and texts carries over: “email and text messages are merely means of transmitting information; presumably they can be captured and retained, and we believe that they must be treated in the same manner as traditional paper records.” Release still turns on its content and the exceptions in section 87(2).
What about a personal phone or account?
It is still a record. In a 2016 opinion, the Committee wrote that it “has long advised that electronic communications, such as e-mails or text messages that involve Village business, whether stored on a government or a personal device, constitute ‘records’ that fall within the coverage of FOIL.” Its 2010 opinion suggested a policy that staff regularly forward copies of public business done on personal accounts to the records management officer. The Committee did note that texts held only by a phone carrier may sit outside FOIL, but a ChatGPT user can export their own history, so an AI chat is not in that position.
How long do the chats have to be kept?
As long as the State Archives schedule says. Under the Local Government Records Law, “No local officer shall destroy, sell or otherwise dispose of any public record without the consent of the commissioner of education,” and a record is defined “regardless of physical form or characteristic.”
What does the state ask its own agencies to log?
More than most states. The state IT office’s guideline NYS-G25-002, updated June 24, 2026, says: “All interactions with approved GenAI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot) should be logged for a minimum of 90 days to enable accountability and help identify potential misuse, security issues, or areas for improvement in system usage.” It binds state agencies, and other public bodies are encouraged to consider it.
What should a county or city do now?
- Put AI chats in your records policy next to email and texts, personal accounts included.
- Map them to your retention schedule with your records management officer, by content.
- Decide how a request reaches personal accounts before one arrives. Our records request guide walks through the search, and we cover California, Washington, Texas and Florida too.
Where Verillian fits
Verillian keeps the record of every captured AI interaction on your agency’s own servers, so a records access officer can search, review and produce those captured chats the way they already do email. Verillian never receives your prompts, responses or records.
Sources read on 28 October 2026.