ChatGPT will soon remember your entire life
As AI gets an infinite memory Sam Altman believes one day very soon AI will be able to remember your entire life so it can personalise everything and "know you."
Key takeaways
- The update will be available everywhere except in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, likely due to these regions having tight AI regulations that Altman has objected to in the past.
- Users who don’t want the chatbot to save any conversations can toggle off saved memories under the ChatGPT personalization settings, or use the temporary chat function to ask it inquiries that won’t use or affect memory.
- ChatGPT’s memory upgrade follows a similar update that Google made to Gemini AI in February that allows it to recall older conversations to provide more personalized or relevant responses.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2025) 'ChatGPT will soon remember your entire life', 311 Institute, 12 May. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/chatgpt-will-soon-remember-your-entire-life/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
After seeing companies trying their best to help Artificial Intelligence (AI) develop “human-like” memory OpenAI is finally giving ChatGPT a memory upgrade – an infinite context window as it’s known - that allows it to recall old conversations that you didn’t ask it to save.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on X that the chatbot can “now reference all your past conversations,” and that the update aligns with the company’s goal to develop “AI systems that get to know you over your life.”
The Future of AI, by Keynote Matthew Griffin
This builds on the “Memory” feature that was added to ChatGPT last year, which allowed limited information like queries, prompts, and customizations to be retained and used for future responses. With the long-term memory update, ChatGPT will now recall information in two ways — using the “saved memories” that users have manually asked it to remember, and “reference chat history,” which are “insights ChatGPT gathers from past chats to improve future ones,” according to OpenAI.
The update will be available everywhere except in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, likely due to these regions having tight AI regulations that Altman has objected to in the past. It’s currently being rolled out to users paying for ChatGPT’s $200 monthly Pro subscription and will be available “soon” for $20 Plus subscribers, according to Altman.
OpenAI also says it will be available to Team, Enterprise, and Edu users “in a few weeks,” but there’s no word on when — or if — it will roll out to free users.
Memory is an optional feature for ChatGPT. Users who don’t want the chatbot to save any conversations can toggle off saved memories under the ChatGPT personalization settings, or use the temporary chat function to ask it inquiries that won’t use or affect memory. ChatGPT’s memory upgrade follows a similar update that Google made to Gemini AI in February that allows it to recall older conversations to provide more personalized or relevant responses.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
As AI gets an infinite memory Sam Altman believes one day very soon AI will be able to remember your entire life so it can personalise everything and "know you."
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 12 May 2025. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2025). ChatGPT will soon remember your entire life. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/chatgpt-will-soon-remember-your-entire-life/
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