Compare arbitration governance provisions between OpenAI and Anthropic. Provisions are extracted from monitored governance documents and classified by severity.
The arbitration requirement establishes a procedural framework where dispute resolution occurs outside the court system through a private arbitrator, with specified carve-outs for small claims and equitable remedies. This structure affects how contractual disputes between the parties are processed and adjudicated.
Consumer impact
Users agreeing to these terms accept that disputes will be resolved through individual binding arbitration rather than litigation or class proceedings. The terms specify that users waive the right to jury trial and collective action participation, while preserving the ability to pursue small claims and seek injunctive relief for intellectual property matters.
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Actual clause text
AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE. You and OpenAI agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity thereof or the use of the Services (collectively, "Disputes") will be settled by binding arbitration between you and OpenAI, except that each party retains the right to bring an individual action in small claims court and the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of a party's copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights. You acknowledge and agree that you and OpenAI are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action or representative proceeding.
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The clause establishes a mandatory dispute resolution mechanism that replaces litigation with arbitration for covered claims, which affects the procedural framework and remedial options available to parties. The waiver of class and collective proceedings means claims must proceed individually rather than as aggregated disputes.
Consumer impact
Users operating under these terms must submit qualifying disputes to binding arbitration with a private arbitrator rather than pursuing court action, and cannot participate in class or collective actions against Anthropic. The arbitrator has authority to award damages and attorney's fees equivalent to court remedies, but the dispute proceeds without judge or jury involvement and with limited appellate review.
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✓ Yes — Send an email to legal@anthropic.com within 30 days of creating your account with the subject line …
Actual clause text
Please read this section carefully—it affects your legal rights. This Section applies to you if you are a resident of the United States. Most disputes can be resolved without resorting to arbitration. If you have an issue with our Services, please contact us first at support@anthropic.com and we will try to resolve the dispute. If we are unable to resolve the dispute, and except for the disputes described in this section, you and Anthropic agree to resolve any claims, disputes, or controversies between you and Anthropic (each a "Claim") through binding individual arbitration instead of in court, except that you may bring a claim in small claims court if it qualifies. There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. The arbitrator, however, can award the same damages and relief as a court (including attorney's fees). YOU AND ANTHROPIC AGREE TO WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO RESOLVE CLAIMS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT ON A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE BASIS.
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The Department of Defense designated Anthropic a supply chain risk after the company refused to rem…
AI Difference AnalysisProfessional
Stripe's arbitration clause is narrower than Amazon's in one key respect: it includes a small claims court carve-out that Amazon's clause does not. PayPal's clause is the most aggressive of the three, explicitly waiving jury trial rights in addition to class action rights. From a compliance perspective, Amazon presents the lowest risk for B2B contracts while PayPal creates the highest exposure for consumer-facing applications subject to CFPB oversight.