Users should exercise caution before prompting ChatGPT or Claude, as generative AI (Gen AI) chats have begun to show up as evidence in criminal and civil cases. For example, law enforcement obtained the first-known federal warrant requiring OpenAI to conduct a reverse search using prompts to identify an unknown user. This article, the first in a two-part series on the emerging use of Gen AI chats as digital evidence, shares law enforcement’s views on obtaining Gen AI for investigations, explains the unsettled law around access to Gen AI use records and identifies expected conflict points to watch, with insights from Google’s former director of law enforcement relations and experts from Integreon, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Loeb & Loeb, McCarter & English, and Winston & Strawn. Part two will provide strategies for companies to prepare for a steady increase of government and litigation requests for Gen AI data, which will affect many businesses, not just the largest AI chat providers. See “Google Settlement Shows DOJ’s Increased Focus on Data Preservation” (Dec. 7, 2022).