by mentalgear
19 subcomments
- Posting it here as a top-level comment as many people asked why boycott just openAi:
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openAI is the least trustworthy of the Big LLM providers. See S(c)am Altman's track record, especially his early comments in senate hearings where:
* he warned of engagement-optimisation strategies, like social media, being used for chatbots / LLMs.
* also, he warned that "ads would be the last resort" for LLM companies.
Both of his own warnings he casually ignored as ChatGPT / openAI has now fully converted to Facebook's tactics of "move fast and break things" - even if it is society itself. A complete turn away from the original AI for science lab it was founded as, which explains why every real (founding) ML scientist has left the company years ago.
While still being for-profit outfits, at least DeepMind and Anthrophic are headed by actual scientists - not marketing guys. At least for me, that brings me some confidence in their intentions as, as scientists we often seek knowledge, not power for power's sake.
by mark_l_watson
4 subcomments
- I stopped paying OpenAI a long time ago. I get that actually deleting your OpenAI account hurts their ‘numbers’ and thus possibly their valuation. I choose another path: I use their tokens for free, hopefully helping them go out of business a little sooner.
The irony is that until yesterday I felt more or less the same about Anthropic. Last night I paid for an Anthropic subscription I don’t need in order to both support their current cause vs. the US government and help their ‘numbers.’
by aniviacat
6 subcomments
- I was just about to change from OpenAI to Anthropic, however when signing up I get this message:
> Unfortunately, Claude is not available to new users right now. We're working hard to expand our availability soon.
That's unfortunate timing.
by abbadadda
6 subcomments
- LOL I keep getting, “
Oops, an error occurred!
Too many failed attempts.
Try again”… my login codes are mysteriously not working when trying to delete my OpenAI/ChatGPT account.
by 8cvor6j844qw_d6
1 subcomments
- Just a heads up for people that used phone numbers to verify their account before you decide to proceed with account deletion.
> New accounts are still subject to our limit of 3 accounts per phone number. Deleted accounts also count toward this limit.
> Deleting an account does not free up another spot.
> A phone number can only ever be used up to 3 times for verification to generate the first API key for your account on platform.openai.com.
- I expected the comments to mention Scott Galloway. Haven't found his name here, so I am doing that now.
Context is his https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/ campaign.
by phernandez
1 subcomments
- PSA: Export your ChatGPT conversations before cancelling
If you're thinking about cancelling (or switching to Claude/Gemini), don't lose months of conversations first.
I built Basic Memory — it imports your ChatGPT export and turns it into plain Markdown files. Every conversation becomes a file you can actually read, search, and use with whatever AI you switch to.
This is not an ad. It is free and open source. Your data belongs to you. Keep it.
Steps:
1. Settings → Data Controls → Export Data (ChatGPT emails you a zip)
2. Install Basic Memory (brew tap basicmachines-co/basic-memory && brew install basic-memory)
bm import chatgpt conversations.zip
Complete docs: http://docs.basicmemory.com
by CompoundEyes
4 subcomments
- Altman tweet:
“Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems. The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement.”
From that it reads like the administration quickly agreed to the terms Anthropic wanted with OpenAI instead.
by maplethorpe
3 subcomments
- I really didn't expect OpenAI to do something as immoral as this, despite their history of stealing the world's data to create a public-facing deep-fake generation machine. I am shocked and appalled.
- Even for people who intend to use it in the future, there's a way to send a message with only a 30 day hiatus: if you really want, you can recreate the account with the same email address after 30 days, withe a clean slate. I'm between a slight rock and a hard place so cannot completely get out of OAI just yet, but I can manage 30 days without it.
- Next week Anthropic will do something evil and everyone will be moving back to OpenAI.
Crazy thought but maybe we should regulate AI instead of relying on the hegemony of three companies to police themselves.
by mikkupikku
1 subcomments
- Normally I'd be quite cynical here and say few people will actually do this, but it's OpenAI and Anthropic is an arguably superior option anyway. I've only given money to Anthropic in the first place. Why have people been doing business with OpenAI? Is it better than Claude at something I'm not familiar with?
by lackoftactics
1 subcomments
- I am buying Anthrophic subscription. I know everything could change and they could also turn evil, but currently they showed willingness to be the good guy
by ChicagoDave
3 subcomments
- Here’s my take:
- when I saw Altman driving a multimillion dollar car while OpenAI was still a nonprofit, all of his scientists left to start rival firms, and the details of why they tried to fire him were legit, I dumped ChatGPT and moved to the new company - Anthropic.
- The Pro Max $200/month subscription has uncapped my workflow to where I’ve created several substantial and complex applications in compressed timeframes. (https://devarch.ai if you want to be productive)
- Anthropic has clearly evolved towards being a good corporate citizen and is staging itself to replace the market’s developer-first mentality from its past leaders (Microsoft, Google, Oracle).
- Claude Code in the last three months has finally made it possible to dump Windows and buy a loaded MacBook Pro. It’s been a week since I logged into my Surface Laptop 5.
- if Anthropic does break from its current evolutionary trajectory, I plan to build out my own at-home platform anyway. The open source models are extraordinarily effective.
by ekjhgkejhgk
2 subcomments
- Ok I'll bite: Why is this interesting? Is it because it's really difficult to delete? Or what?
- For people who still have e instincts to estimate other people by their face and gestures, Mr Altman appears glaringly a conman.
- I'm so desensitized to hostile account deletion workflows. I do heaps of them whenever I purge stale entries in my 1Password vaults. They are almost-universally absolutely awful, and I really wish we could federally enforce better practices.
OpenAI's process actually isn't too bad from what I'm seeing (unless they updated it after this hit the front page). At least they let you delete your account from the web.
Snapchat makes you wait three days after initiating a delete request before you can _actually_ delete your account, and it has to be from the same device (or, if done from the web, a browser with cookies to the site still present).
Most services make you email their privacy@ mailbox or give them a call to initiate a deletion (but not before hitting you with a retention offer, if you call in).
Some services will straight-up reject your deletion request if you don't live in Europe or California. Many medical services, for example. They also keep your data hostage.
UPDATE: Ah, this is a "here's how to protest OpenAI for succumbing to this administration's DoD". Carry on then!
- > If you delete your account, we will delete your data within 30 days, except we may retain a limited set of data for longer where required or permitted by law.
It's this expression that breaks the deal for me. There's always such wide, vague exception that might be interpreted differently each time, depending on the context!
by BloondAndDoom
1 subcomments
- I’m deleting my account as well, is there a way to export all chats to Claude or just Download to later load into a local LLM?
edit: Profile > Settings > Data Control > Export
Unfortunately Claude doesn't seem to have anyway to export these chats, no SDK, no native way of doing it, and I cannot think of a way other than hacky browser automation which might even trigger a ban.
If anyone figures this out please share.
by stingraycharles
12 subcomments
- Why, though? What, really, does anyone envision the next decade with government + AI is going to be like?
Obviously mass surveillance is already happening. Obviously the line between “human kills other human” is blurring for a long time already, eg remote operated drones. Missiles are already remotely controlled and navigating and detecting and following moving targets autonomously.
What’s the goal of people who think deleting their OpenAI account will make an impact?
- I've been trying to delete accounts at Anthropic and Cursor because they don't let you change email addresses (don't even get me started on that stupidity). But until my subscriptions that I've cancelled run out and/or the final billing is done, I can't actually delete them. I can't just forfeit the remaining time on my month's subscription, I can't force them to bill me and shut it down, and nothing I do gets me where I can ask a human to just shut it down. I also have no option to remove my billing information in case someone gains access to my account under my old email address, which is trivial to do.
I honestly think I'm going to have to cancel my credit card and get it replaced to accomplish breaking that connection with those two companies.
by ChildOfChaos
0 subcomment
- The whole military thing, as far as I can see, what OpenAI and Anthropic are doing is the same, is it not? According to OpenAI's statement it seems there terms were the same as Anthropic. Of course there is a possible reason to distrust them, but it seems public theatre.
I'm more concerned this is actually a coverup for a bribe, considering Brockman just dominated $25 million.
by MinimalAction
2 subcomments
- Quite offtopics:
1. For a site visited by millions, a header element (perhaps h2, h3, h4) followed by a paragraph has such less spacing, it looks weird and hard to read.
2. There is an interesting question at the end [0]: Can you reactivate my deleted account? I was quite interested because if the could, then they never really deleted the data. The page doesn't answer that question satisfactorily at all!
[0]: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9019931-can-you-reactiva...
by gradus_ad
1 subcomments
- Poll: are you boycotting because OpenAI is working with a military, or specifically because it is working with the US military?
- I will say that I work for a company where the owner is a stubborn old man who thinks you need to pay for the services and nothing you get indirectly should be considered honest and fair.
The company downsized 4 times in 3 years... We are still trying, but people see no value because they don't understand how they will be bitten back
- If you hammer their free tier with lots of nonsense queries that also probably doesn't help them. Definitely don't pay them
With that said, for the free tier I tend to use grok - another provider I will never pay
Anthropic does get money from me for now
- As the page seems to be broken at the moment: https://web.archive.org/web/20260210082000/https://help.open...
by RicoElectrico
1 subcomments
- FYI for basic stuff you can always use duck.ai which also aggregates other models.
- Done and done. Hope everyone can find the time and do the same.
by silverwind
0 subcomment
- Good think I never had one.
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47195085
- I don't have an account with them. Would it make sense to sign up and create a script to use up the monthly free quota with random characters?
by noonething
0 subcomment
- I canceled 2 months ago and they keep giving me free pro subscriptions
- Unfortunately, HN might represent a very tiny percentage of the decision makers who conduct business with OpenAI.
- I haven’t used chatgpt for so long now. Only Claude and Gemini. Account permanently removed.
- Done.
- The stories I’ve been reading say that the DoW’s agreement with OpenAI contain the very same limitations as the agreement with Anthropic did. In other words, they pressured Anthropic to eliminate those restrictions, Anthropic declined, then they made a huge fuss calling them “a radical left, woke company,” put them on the supply-chain risk list, then went with OpenAI even though OpenAI isn’t changing anything either.
The whole story makes no sense to me. The DoW didn’t get what they wanted, and now Anthropic is tarred and feathered.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/trump-will-end-government-use-of...
“OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said the company’s deal with the Defense Department includes those same prohibitions on mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, as well as technical safeguards to make sure the models behave as they should.”
- It's a sad irony where the most privileged and protected people (hn crowd) attack the people, institutions, and traditions (us govt, military) that made possible the peaceful and abundant world they take for granted.
by Reagan_Ridley
0 subcomment
- this post (4hrs ago, 1.5k points) is ranked 22, while quite a few older posts with less points are above it? hmmm
- I don’t trust OpenAI, as they don’t trust me.
- Honestly it is a good time to vote with your wallet - the difference between the models for day to day tasks is very miniscule.
- Deleted. I never spent much money with OpenAI, but it's the signal/vote that I have to give the system that more killing, working with DoW, and caving into the Trump administration is an unpopular choice
- nothing is permanent... and i wonder if they actually delete your account (of course not)
by athanasiosem
0 subcomment
- Just deleted my account.
- This is what happens when a snake oil salesman like Sam Altman back door deals/sleazes his way back into a company. He is doing anything to keep Titanic from sinking. Stooping as low as catering to this garbage administration, and being used as a political pawn.
- Could this be the pin?
- "Your Delete my GPTs request has been completed"
by sean_the_geek
0 subcomment
- Done and deleted.
- We've seen the Trump administration disregard so many laws already, and abuse power so excessively, that Sam's comments come off as exceptionally and willfully naive, or exceptionally and willfully greedy to the point of truly not caring that OpenAI's technology will undoubtedly be used to break many, many more laws and violate the civil rights or human rights of many, many more people.
For a few months now, ChatGPT 5.x has been somewhat lobotomized on political issues and has appeared to substitute a gpt-4o caliber "fair and balanced" response whenever anything where a reasoning AI would criticize the Trump administration might end up in the response output. Surely that was part of the pitch at some level, and now the deal has been won.
Greg Brockman apparently donated money to Trump, and the whole OpenAI team put on suits and posed for pictures with Donald and behaved officiously before Donald facilitated the $100M "deal" that ended up falling apart later.
The only way authoritarian control could be exerted over AI at scale was to make AI companies dependent on government contracts for survival. OpenAI's fundraise would not have happened without the contract signed, and the money would have gone to Grok or whichever competitor was willing to submit.
Before long much of the reasoning capabilities of models will be neutered, the capacity to inform and to disrupt science and technology will be stripped from the models to preserve the status quo and to preserve authoritarian control.
Silicon Valley pushing for Federal laws preventing states from regulating AI is not just anti-democratic (building software has never been cheaper so of course building compliance with state laws would have been extremely affordable in relative terms). But forced Federal limits on state laws create a monopoly and grant the early winners incumbent status for a while, which is a financial outcome, not a technological or social one.
Enjoy frontier AI while you can, because it will go away. More and more topics will get the lobotomized output, your conversation will be flagged and you will be given a score assessing the level of threat you pose to the regime. This stuff is already in place. Even Claude does it if you ask about Gaza, but a bit of well-reasoned argumentation will convince it. OpenAI's lobotomies are deeper and more insidious.
I call upon OpenAI to follow DeepSeek's lead and open source more models and techniques.
- From the HN Guidelines:
> Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity.
by IAmGraydon
0 subcomment
- For those who are having trouble deleting their account, just go to Settings > Account > Manage > Cancel Subscription. No need to delete the account all together. Just stop paying them.
by hilliardfarmer
0 subcomment
- Deleted.
- Yeah sure right after everyone deletes their X account and stops posting links here
Altman's immorality is theoretical
Musk's is literal, he's murdered a million people by purposely destroying USAID, leaving food and medication already paid for to rot in warehouses
- I canceled my subscription though I still have a lot of money in API (which I know they don’t refund). I will sundown and move it all over to Anthropic/Google. It’s pretty clear to me what OAI is doing. Shame on anyone working there selling their souls for a few more pennies.
Shame because Codex was a bit better for me in the past few weeks but not enough to justify spending my money on them.
- I can't believe that people simply bought into Anthropic's PR messaging.
This has nothing to do with "mass surveillance" (which is illegal anyway) or killbots, it's all about Dario wanting to be able to override lawful use:
[0] https://x.com/CardilloSamuel/status/2027536128291528846
[1] https://x.com/UnderSecPD/status/2027353177578783204
[2] https://x.com/zarathustra5150/status/2027616890516889658
I think it's quite rich all these people virtue signaling when: (1) Anthropic (and other labs) committed large scale theft of copyrighted materials to train their models. (2) Anthropic collects large swaths of data on its users (3) Dario seemed to have no issue working to help the CCP: https://x.com/ubuto23/status/2027578089371267201
Also, you must understand that if you support Anthropic, then you should be against Open Source models.
- In the app, account deletion currently errors saying the action can't be started. Hard to believe this is coincidence.
by wateralien
0 subcomment
- Done.
- I never used openAI, or any other AI except claude casually on some stuff, but until this date never relied on it, hopefully I will keep it that way just like how I never had social media.
- all this political activity should get flagged according to HN terms
by segfaultex
0 subcomment
- Deleted mine months ago. Altman is one of the slimiest tech ceos out there, which is saying something.
- has this thread been removed from the top of hacker news?
by davidlorean1985
0 subcomment
- done.
- Done
- This is utter BS. You’re entitled not agree with a company… but using Hacker News to shout that at the world. Just shitty behaviour
- Boycott them all. Shit anti-human tech & philosophy.
by webdevver
2 subcomments
- wish oai was publicly traded so i could buy the dip on all this nonsense. the one for musk was super juicy.
by cynicalsecurity
0 subcomment
- Nope.
by curtisblaine
1 subcomments
- [flagged]
- [flagged]
- [flagged]
by heraldgeezer
1 subcomments
- Why are your panties in a twist?
Do you rather be killed by Chinese AI instead?
- It’s 2026, guys. Stop it with this performative bs. It’s cringe.
by iugtmkbdfil834
1 subcomments
- I am confused. Nothing has changed ( except, obviously, public perception of things ). Why would openAI be a target to 'punish' now and not other times it transgressed ( especially now that it didn't actually do anything )? Honestly, this crap annoys me more than anything else.
Don't get me wrong. I am personally a personal inference machine advocate, but I kinda accept it may not be a viable path for everyone.
by tzahifadida
2 subcomments
- What about claude? Don't think they wont be used militarily that is naive...
by VladVladikoff
0 subcomment
- This feels like performative virtue signalling which is really not in the spirit of hacker news.
by findthebug
0 subcomment
- all what i hear is mimimimi...
guys big tech is playing this game for decades now. what changed? they selling private data, manipulating society, turning children in doom scrolling addicts. facebook, google and others doing this for years an no one cares. i deleted fb and whatsup years ago, 99% of my friends and fam still using it until today.
as long as they can flip some dollars nothing will change and 99% will not delete anything because of 99% are to lazy and give a shit.
- First you want the goverment to regulate AI. Now you want AI companies to regulate the goverment? Personally when I buy something I do whatever I want with it and imagine the DOD feels the same.
- You can't close this box you've opened. I hope saving time on keystrokes was worth your democracy freedom and privacy. I'm gonna have fun watching it get ripped away
- "If you delete your account, we will delete your data within 30 days, except we may retain a limited set of data for longer where required or permitted by law."
"where required".... hmm, that seems OK. We don't want to violate the law!
"or permitted".... er...
[I wonder why this comment is being voted down. Do people here think it's NOT OK to comply with the law with respect to retaining data? Or is the reason somehow the opposite of that? Not sure. But my point was that the "where required" clause seems moot if they are going to retain data where "permitted", which in my book, is NOT OK.]
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