ChatGPT logs used in arson case over deadly Palisades Fire

Federal prosecutors used Jonathan Rinderknecht’s ChatGPT logs alongside iPhone location data, surveillance video and witness testimony to build an arson case over the fire that later became the Palisades Fire. The 29-year-old former Pacific Palisades resident had been living in Florida when agents arrested him in October 2025.

A federal grand jury added two felony counts on October 15, 2025, after prosecutors alleged Rinderknecht maliciously started a fire near the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in the early morning hours of January 1, 2025. Prosecutors alleged that smaller blaze, the Lachman Fire, smoldered before reigniting during extreme winds and becoming the Palisades Fire. CAL FIRE lists the fire at 23,448 acres and 100 percent contained, while Los Angeles County says the Palisades and Eaton fires together killed 31 people. A Los Angeles Fire Department after-action review called the January 7 blaze unprecedented and said it became California’s tenth-deadliest and third-most-destructive vegetation fire.

The logs included prompts about burning forests and AI-generated images of a burning city, and prosecutors argued Rinderknecht used the chatbot like a diary. In court, the logs were presented with the rest of the digital trail, including cell-location evidence and surveillance footage showing Rinderknecht’s car near the scene.

The defense argued the blaze may have been caused by fireworks or another suspect, but jurors could not agree. The federal trial ended in a mistrial in June 2026 after the panel deadlocked, leaving prosecutors free to try again.