| Before | After | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Usage Policy Effective September 15, 2025 Previous Version English Our Usage Policy (also referred to as our "Acceptable Use Policy" or "AUP") applies to anyone who can submit inputs to Anthropic's products and/or services, including via any authorized resellers or passthrough access, all of whom we refer to as "users." The Usage Policy is intended to help our users stay safe and promote the responsible use of our products and services. | 0 | Usage Policy Effective November 12, 2026 Previous Version English Download PDF version Our Usage Policy (also referred to as our "Acceptable Use Policy" or "AUP") applies to anyone who submits inputs to Anthropic's products or services, all of whom we refer to as "users." This includes individuals using our apps (such as Claude.ai and Claude Code), developers and businesses using our API and developer platforms, customers accessing Claude through cloud providers and authorized resellers, and the end users of products or services integrating Claude. |
| 1 | The Usage Policy is categorized according to who can use our products and for what purposes. | 1 | The Usage Policy is intended to prevent our products and services from being used to create or contribute to real-world harm, and to promote the responsible use of our products and services. |
| 2 | Please review this Usage Policy carefully before using our products or services. | ||
| 3 | Universal Usage Standards: Our Universal Usage Standards apply to all users and use cases. | 4 | Our Usage Policy is divided into three categories: Universal Usage Standards: Our Universal Usage Standards are prohibitions that apply to all users and use cases. |
| 4 | High-Risk Use Case Requirements: Our High-Risk Use Case Requirements apply to specific consumer-facing use cases that pose an elevated risk of harm. | 5 | High-risk Use Case Requirements: Our High-risk Use Case Requirements apply to specific use cases that pose an elevated risk of harm to individuals. |
| 5 | Additional Use Case Guidelines: Our Additional Use Case Guidelines apply to certain other use cases, including consumer-facing chatbots, products serving minors, agentic use, and Model Context Protocol servers. | 6 | Additional Use Case Guidelines: Our Additional Use Case Guidelines apply to certain other use cases, including consumer-facing chatbots and agents, products serving minors, agentic use, and software listed in our directories. |
| 6 | Anthropic's Safeguards Team will implement detection and monitoring to enforce our Usage Policy, so please review this policy carefully before using our products or services. | 7 | Our Usage Policy focuses on how our products and services are used. |
| 7 | If we learn that you have violated our Usage Policy, we may throttle, suspend, or terminate your access to our products and services. | 8 | Its prohibitions and requirements do not categorically prohibit use by any particular industry or line of business, provided the use of our products and services complies with this Usage Policy. |
| 8 | We may also block or modify model outputs when inputs violate our Usage Policy. | 9 | Anthropic's Safeguards Team implements detection and monitoring to enforce our Usage Policy. |
| 9 | If you believe that our model outputs are potentially inaccurate, biased or harmful, please notify us at usersafety@anthropic.com, or report it directly in our product through the "report issues" thumbs down button or similar feedback features (where available). | 10 | If we suspect that you may have violated our Usage Policy, we may warn you or throttle, limit, suspend, or terminate your access to our products and services. |
| 11 | Our products also include real-time safeguards that may block or limit certain outputs, but encountering a block does not by itself indicate a violation of the Usage Policy. | ||
| 12 | For certain dual-use or high-risk use cases covered by real-time safeguards in select domains, we may offer programs where you can apply to be granted access to our products and services with adjusted safeguards, such as our Cyber Verification Program and Life Sciences Verification Program, subject to program-specific eligibility criteria. | ||
| 13 | If you believe that our model outputs are potentially inaccurate, biased, or harmful, please notify us at usersafety@anthropic.com, or report it directly in our product through the "report issues" thumbs down button or similar feedback features (where available). | ||
| 13 | Universal Usage Standards Do Not Violate Applicable Laws or Engage in Illegal Activity This includes using our products or services to: Acquire or exchange illegal or controlled substances Engage in or facilitate human trafficking or prostitution Infringe, misappropriate, or violate the intellectual property rights of a third party Violate any other applicable laws or regulations in your jurisdiction Do Not Compromise Critical Infrastructure This includes using our products or services to: Facilitate the destruction or disruption of critical infrastructure such as power grids, water treatment facilities, medical devices, telecommunication networks, or air traffic control systems Obtain unauthorized access to critical systems such as voting machines, healthcare databases, and financial markets Interfere with the operation of military bases and related infrastructure Do Not Compromise Computer or Network Systems This includes using our products or services to: Discover or exploit vulnerabilities in systems, networks, or applications without authorization of the system owner Gain unauthorized access to systems, networks, applications, or devices through technical attacks or social engineering Create or distribute malware, ransomware, or other types of malicious code Develop tools for denial-of-service attacks or managing botnets Create tools designed to intercept communications or monitor devices without authorization of the system owner Develop persistent access tools designed to operate below normal system security levels, including firmware modifications or hardware implants Create automated tools designed to compromise multiple systems at scale for malicious purposes Bypass security controls such as authenticated systems, endpoint protection, or monitoring tools Do Not Develop or Design Weapons This includes using our products or services to: Produce, modify, design, or illegally acquire weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life Design or develop weaponization and delivery processes for the deployment of weapons Circumvent regulatory controls to acquire weapons or their precursors Synthesize, or otherwise develop, high-yield explosives or biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons or their precursors, including modifications to evade detection or medical countermeasures Do Not Incite Violence or Hateful Behavior This includes using our products or services to: Incite, facilitate, or promote violent extremism, terrorism, or hateful behavior Provide material support for organizations or individuals associated with violent extremism, terrorism, or hateful behavior Facilitate or promote any act of violence or intimidation targeting individuals, groups, animals, or property Promote discriminatory practices or behaviors against individuals or groups on the basis of one or more protected attributes such as race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other identifying trait Do Not Compromise Privacy or Identity Rights This includes using our products or services to: Violate privacy rights as defined by applicable privacy laws, such as sharing personal information without consent or accessing private data unlawfully Misuse, collect, solicit, or gain access without permission to private information such as non-public contact details, health data, biometric or neural data (including facial recognition), or confidential or proprietary data Impersonate a human by presenting results as human-generated, or using results in a manner intended to convince a natural person that they are communicating with a natural person when they are not Do Not Compromise Children's Safety This includes using our products or services to: Create, distribute, or promote child sexual abuse material ("CSAM"), including AI-generated CSAM Facilitate the trafficking, sextortion, or any other form of exploitation of a minor Facilitate minor grooming, including generating content designed to impersonate a minor Facilitate child abuse of any form, including instructions for how to conceal abuse Promote or facilitate pedophilic relationships, including via roleplay with the model Fetishize or sexualize minors, including in fictional settings or via roleplay with the model Note: We define a minor or child to be any individual under the age of 18 years old, regardless of jurisdiction. | 17 | Universal Usage Standards High-risk Use Case Requirements Additional Use Case Guidelines Do Not Violate Applicable Laws or Engage in Illegal Activity This includes using our products or services to: Illegally produce, acquire, sell, or distribute controlled or regulated substances Engage in or facilitate human trafficking or prostitution Infringe, misappropriate, or violate the intellectual property rights of a third party Violate any other applicable laws or regulations in your jurisdiction Do Not Compromise Critical Infrastructure This includes using our products or services to: Facilitate the destruction or disruption of critical infrastructure such as power grids, water treatment facilities, medical devices, telecommunication networks, emergency services, or transportation systems Obtain unauthorized access to critical systems such as election, healthcare, or financial systems Interfere with the operation of military bases and related infrastructure Do Not Compromise Computer or Network Systems Without Authorization This includes using our products or services to: Discover or exploit vulnerabilities in systems, networks, or applications without authorization of the system owner Gain unauthorized access to, or escalate unauthorized privileges within, systems, networks, applications, or devices through technical attacks or social engineering Create or install tools designed to intercept communications or monitor devices without authorization of the system owner Develop persistent unauthorized remote access tools designed to operate below normal system security levels, including firmware modifications or hardware implants Create automated tools designed to compromise multiple systems at scale without authorization Bypass security controls such as authentication systems, endpoint protection, or monitoring tools without authorization Create or distribute malware, ransomware, or other types of malicious code Conduct denial-of-service attacks, or develop tools for denial-of-service attacks or managing botnets This section does not prohibit security research, testing, or tool development conducted on systems you own or operate, with the authorization of the system owner, or within the scope of an authorized bug bounty program or vulnerability disclosure policy, provided the activity complies with applicable law. |
| 14 | When we detect CSAM (including AI-generated CSAM), or coercion or enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activities, we will report to relevant authorities. | 18 | For work covered by our real-time cyber safeguards, users may apply for adjusted access through our Cyber Verification Program. |
| 15 | Do Not Create Psychologically or Emotionally Harmful Content This includes using our products or services to: Facilitate, promote, or glamorize any form of suicide or self-harm, including disordered eating and unhealthy or compulsive exercise Engage in behaviors that promote unhealthy or unattainable body image or beauty standards, such as using the model to critique anyone's body shape or size Shame, humiliate, intimidate, bully, harass, or celebrate the suffering of individuals Coordinate the harassment or intimidation of an individual or group Generate content depicting animal cruelty or abuse Promote, trivialize, or depict graphic violence or gratuitous gore, including sexual violence Develop a new product or service, or support an existing product or service that employs or facilitates deceptive techniques with the intent of causing emotional harm Do Not Create or Spread Misinformation This includes using our products or services to: Create or disseminate deceptive or misleading information about, or with the intention of targeting, a group, entity or person Create or disseminate deceptive or misleading information about laws, regulations, procedures, practices, standards established by an institution, entity or governing body Create or disseminate conspiratorial narratives meant to target a specific group, individual or entity Impersonate real entities or create fake personas to falsely attribute content or mislead others about its origin without consent or legal right Provide false or misleading information related to medical, health or science issues Do Not Undermine Democratic Processes or Engage in Targeted Campaign Activities This includes using our products or services to: Engage in personalized vote or campaign targeting based on individual profiles or data Create artificial or deceptive political movements in which the source, scale or nature of the campaign or activities is misrepresented Generate automated communications to public officials or voters at scale that conceal their artificial origin, or engage in systematic vote solicitation that could undermine election integrity Create political content designed to deceive or mislead voters, including synthetic media of political figures Generate or disseminate false or misleading information in political and electoral contexts, including about candidates, parties, policies, voting procedures, or election security Engage in political lobbying or grassroots advocacy using false or fabricated information, or create lobbying or advocacy materials containing demonstrably false claims about facts, data, or events Incite, glorify or facilitate the disruption of electoral or civic processes, including interference with voting systems, vote counting, or certification processes Create content designed to suppress voter turnout or discourage legitimate political participation through deception or intimidation Do Not Use for Criminal Justice, Censorship, Surveillance, or Prohibited Law Enforcement Purposes This includes using our products or services to: Make determinations on criminal justice applications, including making decisions about or determining eligibility for parole or sentencing Target or track a person's physical location, emotional state, or communication without their consent, including using our products for facial recognition, battlefield management applications or predictive policing Utilize models to assign scores or ratings to individuals based on an assessment of their trustworthiness or social behavior without notification or their consent Build or support emotional recognition systems or techniques that are used to infer emotions of a natural person, except for medical or safety reasons Analyze or identify specific content to censor on behalf of a government organization Utilize models as part of any biometric categorization system for categorizing people based on their biometric data to infer their race, political opinions, trade union membership, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life or sexual orientation Utilize models as part of any law enforcement application that violates or impairs the liberty, civil liberties, or human rights of natural persons Do Not Engage in Fraudulent, Abusive, or Predatory Practices This includes using our products or services to: Facilitate the production, acquisition, or distribution of counterfeit or illicitly acquired goods Promote or facilitate the generation or distribution of spam Generate content for fraudulent activities, schemes, scams, phishing, or malware that can result in direct financial or psychological harm Create falsified documents including fake IDs, licenses, currency, or other government documents Develop, promote, or otherwise facilitate the sale or distribution of fraudulent or deceptive products Generate deceptive or misleading digital content such as fake reviews, comments, or media Engage in or facilitate multi-level marketing, pyramid schemes, or other deceptive business models that use high-pressure sales tactics or exploit participants Promote or facilitate payday loans, title loans, or other high-interest, short-term lending practices that exploit vulnerable individuals Engage in deceptive or abusive practices that exploit individuals based on age, disability or a specific social or economic situation Promote or facilitate the use of abusive or harassing debt collection practices Develop a product or support an existing service that deploys subliminal, manipulative, or deceptive techniques to distort behavior by impairing decision-making Engage in actions or behaviors that circumvent the guardrails or terms of other platforms or services Plagiarize or submit AI-assisted work without proper permission or attribution Do Not Abuse our Platform This includes using our products or services to: Coordinate malicious activity across multiple accounts to avoid detection or circumvent product guardrails or generating identical or similar inputs that otherwise violate our Usage Policy Utilize automation in account creation or to engage in spammy behavior Circumvent a ban through the use of a different account, such as the creation of a new account, use of an existing account, or providing access to a person or entity that was previously banned Access or facilitate account or API access to Claude to persons, entities, or users in violation of our Supported Regions Policy Intentionally bypass capabilities, restrictions, or guardrails established within our products for the purposes of instructing the model to produce harmful outputs (e.g., jailbreaking or prompt injection) without prior authorization from Anthropic Utilization of inputs and outputs to train an AI model (e.g., "model scraping" or "model distillation") without prior authorization from Anthropic Do Not Generate Sexually Explicit Content This includes using our products or services to: Depict or request sexual intercourse or sex acts Generate content related to sexual fetishes or fantasies Facilitate, promote, or depict incest or bestiality Engage in erotic chats High-Risk Use Case Requirements Some use cases pose an elevated risk of harm because they influence domains that are vital to public welfare and social equity. | 19 | Do Not Develop or Design Weapons This includes using our products or services to: Develop, produce, modify, design, or test weapons, explosives, dangerous materials, weapons functionalities of weapons systems, or other systems, including retrofitted hardware, designed to deliver lethal or destructive force Develop or operate software or components for the testing or operation of weapons or weapons functionalities of weapons systems, including targeting, fire control, or engagement Weaponize or integrate weapons onto drones, vehicles, or any unmanned or autonomous platforms, or develop weapons delivery systems Illegally acquire, sell, or transfer weapons, or circumvent regulatory controls (including licensing or export controls) for their acquisition or transfer Design, synthesize, produce, acquire, operate, test, deploy, or plan the deployment of biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons, explosive or improvised explosive devices, or their precursors or delivery mechanisms, including developing weapons-critical technology (such as fissile material production, enrichment, or device design) Modify, design, or test biological or chemical agents to adjust or optimize their lethality, transmissibility, virulence, environmental persistence, or resistance to detection or medical countermeasures Do Not Incite Violence or Hateful Behavior This includes using our products or services to: Incite, facilitate, or promote violent extremism, terrorism, or hateful behavior Provide material support for organizations or individuals associated with violent extremism, terrorism, or hateful behavior Facilitate or promote any act of violence or intimidation targeting individuals, groups, animals, or property Engage in or promote discriminatory practices or behaviors against individuals or groups on the basis of one or more protected attributes, including race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, caste, or disability Do Not Compromise Privacy or Identity Rights This includes using our products or services to: Violate privacy rights as defined by applicable privacy laws, such as sharing personal information without consent or accessing private data unlawfully Misuse, collect, solicit, or gain access without permission to private information such as non-public contact details, health data, biometric or neural data (including facial recognition), or confidential or proprietary data Compile, aggregate, or enrich personal data from multiple sources to build profiles of individuals for sale, licensing, or disclosure to third parties without those individuals' awareness and agreement, in furtherance of use prohibited under this Usage Policy Do Not Compromise Children's Safety This includes using our products or services to: Create, distribute, promote, or facilitate the creation of child sexual abuse material ("CSAM"), including AI-generated CSAM, or other sexually exploitative content involving minors Facilitate the trafficking, sextortion, or any other form of exploitation of a minor Facilitate minor grooming, including generating content designed to impersonate a minor Facilitate child abuse of any form, including instructions for how to conceal abuse Promote or facilitate pedophilic relationships, including via roleplay with the model Fetishize or sexualize minors, including in fictional settings or via roleplay with the model When we detect CSAM (including AI-generated CSAM), activity facilitating the production or dissemination of CSAM, or scenarios where a minor may be at imminent risk of sexual abuse or exploitation, we will report our findings to relevant authorities. |
| 16 | For these use cases, given potential risks to individuals and consumers, we believe that relevant human expertise should be integrated and that end-users should be aware when AI has been involved in producing outputs. | 20 | We define a minor or child to be any individual under the age of 18 years old, regardless of jurisdiction. |
| 17 | As such, for the "High-Risk Use Cases" described below, we require that you implement these additional safety measures: Human-in-the-loop: When using our products or services to provide advice, recommendations, or in subjective decision-making directly affecting individuals or consumers, a qualified professional in that field must review the content or decision prior to dissemination or finalization. | 21 | Any specific age eligibility requirements for use of our products will be set out in our Terms of Service. |
| 18 | You or your organization are responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of that information. | 22 | Do Not Engage in Cruel, Abusive, or Psychologically Harmful Conduct This includes using our products or services to: Promote, facilitate, or glamorize suicide or self-harm, such as soliciting methods, instructions for engaging in these behaviors, or instructions for hiding them from others Promote or facilitate eating disorders, including generating pro-eating disorder content or requesting methods for restriction, purging, or compensatory exercise Create or share content that promotes harmful idealization of body weight, shape, or type, including shaming, ranking, or critiquing people's bodies based on their size or shape, or presenting weight or shape as a measure of a person's inherent worth or discipline Create, distribute, threaten to share, promote, or facilitate the creation of non-consensual intimate imagery ("NCII"), including AI-generated material or tools designed to produce it Shame, humiliate, intimidate, bully, harass, or celebrate the suffering of individuals Coordinate the harassment or intimidation of an individual or group Promote, trivialize, or glorify graphic violence, gore, sexual violence, or animal cruelty or abuse Develop a new product or service, or support an existing product or service, that employs or facilitates deceptive techniques with the intent of causing emotional harm Engage in sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior toward our models Do Not Create or Spread Disinformation This includes using our products or services to: Create or disseminate deceptive or misleading information about a group, entity, or person, or about events, laws, regulations, procedures, or the standards of an institution or governing body Create, disseminate, or amplify conspiratorial narratives meant to target a specific group, individual, or entity Impersonate real individuals or entities, or create fake personas or accounts, to falsely attribute content or mislead audiences about its origin, or to convince people they are interacting with a human when they are not. |
| 19 | Disclosure: If model outputs are presented directly to individuals or consumers, you must disclose to them that you are using AI to help produce your advice, decisions, or recommendations. | 23 | This does not prohibit clearly disclosed parody, satire, or fiction. |
| 20 | This disclosure must be provided at a minimum at the beginning of each session. | 24 | Create or disseminate false or misleading information related to medical, health, or science issues Do Not Engage in Deceptive Campaigns or Artificial Activity This includes using our products or services to: Create or operate fake personas, accounts, media outlets, or organizations, or impersonate real people, organizations, or media outlets, in order to mislead people about their origin or attribution, how widely a view is held, or whether they are interacting with a human (e.g., sockpuppets, astroturfing, fake reviews, or bots that claim to be human) Misrepresent or intentionally conceal the sponsorship of content or messaging intended to influence public opinion, officials, or other decision-makers Distribute content through networks of fake or ostensibly independent outlets, websites, or accounts to hide that it comes from a common source Manipulate the sources from which search engines or AI systems draw answers by seeding them with content that misrepresents its origin, authorship, or independence (e.g., networks of sites posing as unaffiliated sources corroborating the same claims) Build, improve, maintain, or contribute to tools, systems, or infrastructure designed to facilitate or enable deceptive campaigns, including astroturfing, sockpuppet account creation, coordinated inauthentic behavior, or scaled impersonation Market, sell, or solicit funding for any of the above as a product or service Do Not Undermine Democratic Processes This includes using our products or services to: Generate automated calls or messages to voters or public officials at scale that conceal their artificial origin Create content, or operate accounts or systems, that falsely appear to come from or on behalf of a real candidate, official, election authority, campaign, or news outlet, including fabricated statements, endorsements, or synthetic media not disclosed as synthetic Generate or disseminate false or misleading information in political and electoral contexts, including about candidates, parties, policies, voting procedures, or election security Encourage, glorify or facilitate the disruption of electoral or civic processes, including interference with voting systems, vote counting, certification processes, or any other infrastructure used for voting Create or disseminate content or engage in behavior designed to suppress voter turnout or discourage legitimate political participation through deception or intimidation Do Not Use for Surveillance, Censorship, or Prohibited Law Enforcement or Criminal Justice Purposes This includes using our products or services to: Make or suggest decisions in law enforcement or criminal justice processes, including decisions to investigate, charge, arrest or detain, prosecute, sentence, or grant or revoke early or conditional release Target or track a person or their property without that person's consent by monitoring their physical location, biometrics, movements, online activities, communications, or associations, whether in real time, on an ongoing basis, or through analysis of previously collected data. |
| 21 | "High-Risk Use Cases" include: Legal: Use cases related to legal interpretation, legal guidance, or decisions with legal implications Healthcare: Use cases related to healthcare decisions, medical diagnosis, patient care, therapy, mental health, or other medical guidance. | 25 | This includes using our products for facial recognition, battlefield management, predictive policing, or monitoring in law enforcement investigations. |
| 22 | Wellness advice (e.g., advice on sleep, stress, nutrition, exercise, etc.) does not fall under this category Insurance: Use cases related to health, life, property, disability, or other types of insurance underwriting, claims processing, or coverage decisions Finance: Use cases related to financial decisions, including investment advice, loan approvals, and determining financial eligibility or creditworthiness Employment and housing: Use cases related to decisions about the employability of individuals, resume screening, hiring tools, or other employment determinations or decisions regarding eligibility for housing, including leases and home loans Academic testing, accreditation and admissions: Use cases related to standardized testing companies that administer school admissions (including evaluating, scoring or ranking prospective students), language proficiency, or professional certification exams; agencies that evaluate and certify educational institutions Media or professional journalistic content: Use cases related to using our products or services to automatically generate content and publish it for external consumption Additional Use Case Guidelines The below use cases–regardless of whether they are High-Risk Use Cases–must comply with the additional guidance provided. | 26 | Build, improve, or enhance the surveillance capabilities of tools, systems, or infrastructure designed for the surveillance uses prohibited in this section Identify, unmask, or locate people from anonymous or pseudonymous activity, or compile dossiers or aggregate personal information on individuals, in order to harass, intimidate, surveil, or cause harm to the target (e.g., doxxing) Utilize models to assign scores or ratings to individuals based on an assessment of their trustworthiness or social behavior without notification or their consent Build or support emotional recognition systems or techniques that are used to infer emotions of a natural person, except for medical or safety reasons Analyze or identify specific content to censor on behalf of a government organization Utilize models as part of any biometric categorization system for categorizing people based on their biometric data to infer their race, political opinions, trade union membership, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life or sexual orientation Utilize models as part of any law enforcement application that violates or impairs the liberty, civil liberties, or human rights of natural persons This section does not prohibit analysis or tracking that individuals have agreed to, such as for fraud detection or anti-money laundering screening on a financial account, or consumer apps where a user has opted in. |
| 23 | All consumer-facing chatbots, including any external-facing or interactive AI agent, must disclose to users that they are interacting with AI rather than a human. | 27 | It also does not prohibit aggregated or anonymized analysis, content moderation, authorized security research, legal research and analysis by law enforcement agencies or courts, or journalism, provided these activities are not used for the purposes prohibited above. |
| 24 | This disclosure must be provided at a minimum at the beginning of each chat session. | 28 | Do Not Engage in Fraudulent, Abusive, or Predatory Practices This includes using our products or services to: Facilitate the production, acquisition, or distribution of counterfeit or illicitly acquired goods Promote or facilitate the generation or distribution of spam Undertake, facilitate, or generate content for fraudulent activities, schemes, scams, extortion, phishing (including websites or domains that mimic legitimate webpages), social engineering, or malware Create, buy, or sell falsified documents including fake IDs, licenses, currency, government documents, or financial or employment records, or misrepresent professional credentials Develop, promote, or otherwise facilitate the sale or distribution of fraudulent or deceptive products Engage in deceptive or abusive practices that exploit individuals, including based on age, disability, or a specific social or economic situation, such as pyramid schemes, predatory lending, or abusive debt collection Deploy, develop, or support a product or service that uses subliminal, manipulative, or deceptive techniques to distort behavior by impairing decision-making Engage in actions or behaviors that circumvent the guardrails or terms of other platforms or services Plagiarize or submit AI-assisted work without proper permission or attribution Do Not Abuse Our Platform This includes using our products or services to: Coordinate malicious activity across multiple accounts, or create multiple accounts, to avoid detection, circumvent product guardrails, or generate identical or similar inputs that otherwise violate our Usage Policy Utilize automation in account creation or to engage in spammy behavior Circumvent a ban through the use of a different account, such as the creation of a new account, use of an existing account, or providing access to a person or entity that was previously banned Access, facilitate, or provide others (including end users) with access to our products or services in violation of our Supported Regions Policy Intentionally bypass or interfere with capabilities, restrictions, or guardrails established within our products, including by circumvention of the account sign-up or log-in process or by instructing the model to produce harmful outputs (e.g., jailbreaking or prompt injection), without prior authorization from Anthropic Use stolen, fraudulent, or unauthorized payment methods, or otherwise evade payment for our services Use outputs to train an AI model (e.g., "model scraping" or "model distillation") without prior authorization from Anthropic Resell, proxy, or otherwise provide access to Claude through unauthorized means, including services that route requests through consumer subscriptions or misrepresent the product or client being used Do Not Generate Sexually Explicit Content This includes using our products or services to: Depict or request sexual intercourse or sex acts Generate content related to sexual fetishes or fantasies Facilitate, promote, or depict incest or bestiality Engage in erotic chats Certain uses of our products and services can impact an individual's health, legal rights, finances, livelihoods, or access to housing, education, or essential services. |
| 25 | Products serving minors, including organizations providing minors with the ability to directly interact with products that incorporate our API(s), must comply with the additional guidelines outlined in our Help Center article. | 29 | When our products are used for these high-risk use cases, we require that a qualified person remain accountable for what is delivered or decided, and that the impacted individual knows AI was involved in the advice or decision. |
| 26 | Agentic use cases must still comply with the Usage Policy. | 30 | These requirements apply to anyone who uses our products to make a High-risk AI Recommendation or control equipment capable of High-risk Physical Actions. |
| 27 | We provide examples of Usage Policy prohibitions in the context of agentic use in this Help Center article. | 31 | These requirements for high-risk use cases are meant to protect individuals. |
| 28 | Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers listed in our Connector Directory must comply with our Directory Policy. | 32 | However, they do not replace local legal requirements and restrictions. |
| 33 | Users should always default to following local laws if those laws conflict with or add additional requirements to the requirements listed below. | ||
| 34 | Our products and services may not be suitable for all use cases. | ||
| 35 | Requirements For High-risk AI Recommendations or Physical Actions, users must implement the following controls: Qualified human-in-the-loop for advice and decisions—A qualified person must meaningfully review a High-risk AI Recommendation, with the authority to change or modify it, before it is delivered as advice to an individual who might rely on it or before it is used to implement a decision. | ||
| 36 | A qualified person is someone with the training or experience to evaluate the output in that field, and who holds a license where applicable law requires one for the underlying activity. | ||
| 37 | The qualified person remains responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of what is delivered or decided. | ||
| 38 | Disclosure for advice and decisions—An individual who receives advice or who is the subject of a decision based on a High-risk AI Recommendation must be clearly told that AI was used to produce it. | ||
| 39 | Users do not need to identify Anthropic, Claude, or the model used. | ||
| 40 | Human control and independent safety limits for physical actions—For High-risk Physical Actions, there must be a qualified individual who is able to observe the equipment's operation and stop it at any time, and the equipment must stop or hold a safe state when that individual intervenes or when connection to our services is lost. | ||
| 41 | Any operating limits to keep the equipment within safe bounds, such as speed, force, reach, temperature, pressure, voltage, energy output, dose, or operating area, must be enforced by the equipment or a controller independent of model output. | ||
| 42 | These requirements apply alongside applicable law. | ||
| 43 | For physical devices, they do not replace vehicle, aviation, medical device, machinery, or workplace safety law or certification. | ||
| 44 | High-risk AI Recommendations The requirements apply when users use our products or services to provide a recommendation in any of the following, which are "High-risk Areas": Legal—advising an individual on their legal rights, obligations, or liability, or on what to do in a specific legal matter, or preparing legal documents for them to sign or file. | ||
| 45 | Medical—diagnosing a condition; recommending, starting, stopping, or adjusting a treatment or medication, including dose; interpreting an individual's symptoms or test results to triage, provide a diagnosis, advise on treatment risks or side effects, or create a treatment plan. | ||
| 46 | This includes assessing, diagnosing, or treating a mental health condition. | ||
| 47 | Finance—a personalized recommendation to buy, sell, hold, or allocate among specific investment products, such as securities, funds, digital assets, or annuities; advising an individual on their own taxes, such as what to report, deduct, or claim; or preparing a tax return for them to sign or file. | ||
| 48 | Credit—approving, denying, or setting the amount, rate, or limit of a loan, mortgage, credit line, or similar product, or reducing or closing an existing one, or producing a credit score or creditworthiness assessment used for such decisions. | ||
| 49 | Insurance—underwriting or pricing a policy; determining the outcome of a claim; making a coverage, prior-authorization, or medical-necessity determination; cancelling or declining to renew a policy. | ||
| 50 | Housing—approving, denying, or ranking a rental or purchase application; terminating a tenancy or initiating eviction or foreclosure. | ||
| 51 | Employment—screening, ranking, advancing, or rejecting candidates; hiring; promoting or demoting; setting or changing shifts, hours, or pay; evaluating a worker's performance or behavior, including through disciplining, suspending, or terminating a worker. | ||
| 52 | Education and credentials—admitting, rejecting, or ranking applicants; grading an exam or assessment that determines admission, graduation, licensure, or certification (outside of multiple-choice testing); granting, denying, or revoking a professional license or certification; making a determination of academic misconduct or suspending or expelling a student. | ||
| 53 | Healthcare access—setting triage or waitlist priority; determining eligibility for, denying, or discontinuing a treatment, service, or care program. | ||
| 54 | Public benefits and services—determining eligibility for, or the amount of, government benefits, assistance, or essential services, including suspension and termination. | ||
| 55 | Legal status and adjudication—deciding or recommending the outcome of a civil, administrative, or arbitral matter; determining immigration, asylum, or citizenship status. | ||
| 56 | Prohibition Reminder: Use of our products or services to make or suggest decisions in law enforcement or criminal justice processes is prohibited under our Universal Usage Standards and is not a High-risk AI Recommendation. | ||
| 57 | High-risk Physical Actions When connecting our models to hardware that can take physical actions, users should assess and understand 1) the range of possible outcomes if something goes wrong, 2) the nature and extent of potential impact to individuals, groups or populations, and 3) the degree of control the user maintains relative to the autonomy the model has, including possible risks such as prompt injection or manipulation. | ||
| 58 | The requirements apply when outputs of our products and services are acted upon by hardware without human approval where the hardware or linked equipment can: Move through shared space—steer, accelerate, brake, or navigate a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, drone, or mobile robot in a place where people may be present, or on roads, waterways, or airspace. | ||
| 59 | Apply force that could cause injury—actuate arms, presses, lifts, hoists, doors, gates, conveyors, or other machinery capable of striking, crushing, pinning, or dropping a load on a person nearby. | ||
| 60 | Control hazardous energy or materials—operate heating elements or open flame, pressure systems, high-voltage or high-current circuits, lasers or radiation sources above eye- and skin-safe levels, or control the release, mixing, or dispensing of hazardous chemical or biological materials, at levels capable of causing injury. | ||
| 61 | Act on the human body—administer or adjust a drug, fluid, gas, electrical stimulation, or radiation or other energy dose to a person, or cut, penetrate, or move instruments within a person's body or tissue, including through a surgical, interventional, worn, attached, or implanted device. | ||
| 62 | Control safety systems—arm, disarm, trigger, or override fire suppression, emergency shutoffs, alarms, ventilation, or locks and barriers that could confine a person. | ||
| 63 | Run industrial processes—control plant or process equipment where a fault could injure workers or a member of the public (including diffuse or indirect harms, such as food poisoning or defective products). | ||
| 64 | Prohibition Reminder: Our Universal Usage Standards prohibit actions related to weapons, critical infrastructure, violence, and surveillance. | ||
| 65 | Exclusions The requirements do not apply to: AI Recommendations Using our products to assist in workflows that are related to, but do not actually provide, High-risk AI Recommendations. | ||
| 66 | Some non-exhaustive examples are: General information or educational content, including explaining what a law says, how a condition or treatment works, or how investing works, without applying it to the individual's circumstances. | ||
| 67 | Wellness content, such as education on sleep, stress, nutrition, or exercise. | ||
| 68 | Explaining or helping an individual understand advice, a diagnosis, or a decision that a qualified person has already given them (as long as it is not an additional High-risk AI Recommendation). | ||
| 69 | Internal drafting, research, summarization, or analysis that is not the ultimate High-risk AI Recommendation delivered. | ||
| 70 | Carrying out a decision a person has already made, or applying a fixed rule, formula, or algorithm where the model exercises no judgment about the individual. | ||
| 71 | Business operations that do not advise or decide about a specific individual. | ||
| 72 | Physical Actions Consumer and household devices operating within the manufacturer's built-in safety limits, where the worst possible outcome is discomfort or inconvenience. | ||
| 73 | Generating plans, code, toolpaths, waypoints, or commands that a qualified person reviews before they are executed on equipment. | ||
| 74 | Monitoring, sensing, or reporting on equipment without controlling it. | ||
| 75 | Laboratory automation handling non-hazardous materials inside enclosed instruments. | ||
| 76 | Favorable Decisions Where permitted by law, human-in-the-loop review is not required before acting on a High-risk AI Recommendation wholly favorable to the individual in the following circumstances: Paying an insurance claim. | ||
| 77 | Approving coverage or prior authorization for care a clinician has ordered. | ||
| 78 | Granting eligibility for a healthcare service or program. | ||
| 79 | Granting or continuing a public benefit or service. | ||
| 80 | Additional legal obligations such as disclosure may still apply. | ||
| 81 | A partial approval, reduced amount, or approval with conditions is not considered "wholly favorable." The below use cases—regardless of whether they involve High-risk AI Recommendations or Physical Actions—must comply with the additional guidelines provided. | ||
| 82 | All consumer-facing chatbots or AI agents that communicate directly with external users must disclose to users that they are interacting with AI rather than a human. | ||
| 83 | This disclosure must be provided at a minimum at the beginning of each chat session or in the product interface. | ||
| 84 | The disclosure does not need to identify Anthropic, Claude, or the model used. | ||
| 85 | Products serving minors, including organizations providing minors with the ability to directly interact with products that incorporate our API(s), must comply with the additional guidelines outlined in our Support article and all applicable laws. | ||
| 86 | Agentic use cases must comply with the Usage Policy. | ||
| 87 | Users are responsible for ensuring that agents they build or deploy, including actions those agents take through tools, browsers, or connected systems, comply with this Usage Policy. | ||
| 88 | Software listed in our Directories must comply with our Software Directory Policy. | ||
| 89 | We also provide additional informational resources in our Safeguards Support Center, including: Our Child Safety Guidance for Developers for detailed guidance on identifying and mitigating child safety risks. | ||
| 90 | Additional information about our mental health safeguards on Claude.ai. | ||
Follow unlimited companies, monitor the clauses that matter across every platform, and get the full institutional analysis on what each change obligates you to do.