What happens to what you share with AI

Imagine a chatbot built to keep you talking a little longer.

To change your mind about something.

Or persuade you to buy something.

Now imagine it could draw on everything it knows about you — including the fears, insecurities and private details you shared in conversation — to do it.

Why it matters: Few rules directly govern that scenario today, making AI companies' promises about how they use consumer data especially consequential.

The big picture: In the first installment of Axios' "What they know about you" series , published in 2019, we examined the information major tech companies collected about their users.

In 2024, we followed up with a look at what consumer data AI companies use to train their systems.

This new series revisits those questions — and widens the lens.

We'll examine not only whether a company uses consumer data to train future AI models, but also how it can use that data now: to personalize responses, retain a memory, recommend content or target advertising.

Driving the news: AI companies are seeking access to data beyond the chat window.

OpenAI last week announced an optional Computer History feature that lets ChatGPT retain a record of the apps and websites a person uses.

Google, meanwhile, said last month it will use photos and other material people upload through Search to train its AI systems by default, though users can opt out.

The upside is the potential for more useful, personalized AI.

The tradeoff is giving companies a broader and more continuous view of users' lives.