OpenAI’s Computer History feature turns activity on a Mac into a searchable timeline for ChatGPT and Codex, according to The Decoder.
The system records clicks, keystrokes, and app switches, then stores the resulting history locally as Markdown files. OpenAI says the data is not used for AI training. The report notes an important caveat: memories that are later fed into chats may still become part of the broader data path depending on user settings and how the information is used.
The feature points to a practical direction for AI assistants. A model that can search what a person recently did may answer questions, resume tasks, or help debug work with far less manual context gathering. It also raises a clear privacy trade-off, because the same timeline could include sensitive work, personal messages, or credentials accidentally typed into apps.
Local storage is helpful, but it is not the same as automatic safety. Users and organizations will need clear retention, encryption, and sharing controls before this kind of memory becomes routine.