Fireworks Keeps Batch Files Until Customers Delete
Fireworks CEO Lin Qiao responded to concerns about data retention after conversations processed for Notion's Insights feature were exposed.
Updated on Nov. 14, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
Live Poll
Do you trust AI companies to actually delete your uploaded files?
Fireworks CEO Lin Qiao said batch processing files remain stored until customers delete them, and the company says it keeps no copies after deletion. The response followed exposure of conversations Fireworks processed for Notion's Insights feature, which Notion said came from fewer than 1% of workspaces.
Why it matters
The case highlights how file-based batch workflows can keep customer data on a provider's systems longer than individual inference requests do. Enterprise customers handling sensitive material may need to check retention settings and deletion practices before relying on AI infrastructure vendors.
The figure comes from Notion's statement that fewer than 1% of its workspaces were affected, and Fireworks reports zero data retention is available but disabled by default. Neither company's account addresses how the exposure occurred or whether any data was accessed beyond the Insights feature.
The players
Lin Qiao
Lin Qiao is the chief executive of Fireworks, an AI inference platform, and posted the company's response to concerns about data retention.
Fireworks
Fireworks is an AI infrastructure company that provides model inference and batch processing services to enterprise customers.
Notion
Notion is a workplace productivity software company whose Insights feature relied on Fireworks to process conversations.
The details
Batch processing stores uploaded files until customers delete them, while Chat Completions, Nexus and serverless training support zero data retention. Fireworks offers an account-wide setting that, when enabled, rejects batch jobs and file uploads requiring storage, but it does not automatically delete existing data.
Timeline
November 14, 2026: Fireworks CEO Lin Qiao responds to retention concerns.
Big Picture
Fireworks' account-wide zero data retention setting is off by default and rejects batch jobs that require storage, placing batch file handling outside the protections that cover individual inference requests. OpenAI, AWS and Google use similar designs for their batch interfaces, so the retention tradeoff is not unique to Fireworks.
Teams using Fireworks batch processing should review whether uploaded files are stored until deleted and whether the zero data retention setting fits their workflows. Enabling that setting will cause batch jobs and uploads that need storage to be rejected.
The takeaway
Check retention settings and deletion practices before sending sensitive data to any AI provider's batch interface. Default settings may not match your privacy requirements.
Further reading
Explore more on Artificial Intelligence to see how vendors handle customer data across AI services.
Source note: This article includes information reported by TokenPost.
Live Poll
Do you trust AI companies to actually delete your uploaded files?
