The policy prohibits using Cohere's AI to provide meaningful assistance to anyone attempting to develop biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological weapons capable of causing mass casualties.
This analysis describes what Cohere's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The policy targets content that provides 'serious uplift,' meaning substantive technical assistance, rather than broadly prohibiting any discussion, which introduces an interpretive threshold that operators and compliance teams may need to operationalize in their content filtering approaches.
Interpretive note: The 'serious uplift' threshold requires qualitative judgment and may be applied inconsistently across operators without further definitional guidance from Cohere.
Users and operators cannot use Cohere's services to generate technical guidance, synthesis routes, or other substantive assistance for CBRN weapons development, regardless of stated purpose or context.
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"Do not use Cohere's services to provide serious uplift to those seeking to create biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiological weapons with the potential for mass casualties.— Excerpt from Cohere's Cohere Responsible Use Policy
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision engages US export control law (EAR, ITAR), the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act, Chemical Weapons Convention implementing legislation, and equivalent frameworks in other jurisdictions. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) are relevant US enforcement authorities. The EU AI Act identifies certain AI uses related to weapons of mass destruction as prohibited. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The 'serious uplift' framing requires operators to make a qualitative judgment about when AI-generated content crosses the threshold from general information to actionable weapons assistance. This creates compliance ambiguity that technical content filters alone may not resolve. JURISDICTION FLAGS: US, EU, UK, and most UN member states have legal prohibitions on assisting with WMD development. Organizations with international user bases face multi-jurisdictional exposure. Dual-use research contexts in academic or pharmaceutical settings may require particularly careful review. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Operators in research, academic, or defense-adjacent industries should assess whether their use cases could foreseeably generate CBRN-relevant content and implement specific technical controls and human review processes. Vendor contracts should address liability allocation if AI-generated content is subsequently determined to have provided prohibited uplift. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should document the technical and procedural controls in place to prevent CBRN uplift, assess whether their user base includes research contexts that elevate risk, and consider whether specialized review processes are needed for scientific or technical query handling.
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The policy targets content that provides 'serious uplift,' meaning substantive technical assistance, rather than broadly prohibiting any discussion, which introduces an interpretive threshold that operators and compliance teams may need to operationalize in their content filtering approaches.
Users and operators cannot use Cohere's services to generate technical guidance, synthesis routes, or other substantive assistance for CBRN weapons development, regardless of stated purpose or context.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Cohere.