ChatGPT’s desktop app on macOS has gained a feature called Computer History, which records a user’s actions to learn how they work. According to The Verge, the tool turns activity into training data, building a timeline that ChatGPT and Codex can reference when a user makes a request. It can suggest automations and pick up tasks left partly done.
The feature is opt-in rather than opt-out. Users can exclude specific apps and websites from Computer History and delete entries for finer control. Ari Weinstein, Product and Engineering manager at OpenAI, said on X that Computer History will automatically ignore content in incognito or private browser tabs.
Why it matters
Because the feature relies on tracking clicks and keystrokes, it raises questions about how personal activity data is captured and used, though OpenAI has made it opt-in and included controls to exclude apps and delete records.
Who should care
macOS users of the ChatGPT desktop app, along with anyone weighing the trade-off between workflow automation and monitoring of their computer activity, should review the available privacy controls.