A proposed class action filed September 16, 2026 alleges OpenAI ran an undisclosed program called 'Project Lily' in which outside contractors read, summarized and graded real ChatGPT conversations without disclosing this in its terms or privacy policy. The suit covers U.S. ChatGPT Plus users, with California and paid-subscriber subclasses, and excludes Enterprise, Business, Team, Edu and API customers. OpenAI was served September 21 and its response is due October 13, 2026; no class has been certified and there is nothing to claim yet.
openclassactions.com
· 2026-09-24
404 Media reports that contractors hired to review and critique real ChatGPT conversations to improve OpenAI's models have been terminated for secretly using AI tools to generate their feedback instead of doing it themselves. Multiple contractors told the outlet this is a widespread and frequently punished practice among the thousands of workers doing this human-review work.
404media.co
· 2026-09-22
According to a 404 Media report, OpenAI has hired hundreds of contract workers to read and evaluate user prompts, including messages containing sensitive personal details, as part of an internal effort called Project Lily. The reviewers rate and critique ChatGPT's responses to help engineers reduce sycophantic and overly human-like behavior in the chatbot, rather than to moderate content.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-17
A 404 Media investigation reveals OpenAI runs an internal effort called Project Lily, employing hundreds of contractors paid roughly $50 an hour to read anonymized ChatGPT conversations and rate the quality of the bot's answers. Reviewers check for issues like overly robotic phrasing, sycophancy, and improper anthropomorphizing, following guidelines described as inconsistent and frequently changing.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-15
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