DeepSeek will not be responsible for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from use of the model, even if they were aware such damages were possible.
This analysis describes what DeepSeek'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
This clause limits the categories of damages a licensee can recover from DeepSeek in the event the model causes harm, excluding consequential and indirect damages, which are often the most significant losses in AI-related failures.
Interpretive note: Enforceability of the liability exclusion varies by jurisdiction; mandatory consumer protection and AI liability provisions in the EU, UK, and some US states may limit the practical effect of this clause.
The agreement states that DeepSeek's liability is limited to direct damages only, excluding consequential and indirect losses, which means that organizations or individuals harmed by model failures may have limited contractual recourse for downstream financial or operational losses. Applicable law in certain jurisdictions may limit the enforceability of broad liability exclusions of this type.
How other platforms handle this
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Kit shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting ...
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Pinterest shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, res...
You will remain responsible for any amounts you fail to pay in connection with your subscription, including collection costs, bank overdraft fees, collection agency fees, reasonable attorneys' fees, and arbitration or court costs.
Monitoring
DeepSeek has changed this document before.
Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 25 platforms.
"IN NO EVENT WILL DEEPSEEK OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, PRODUCTS LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR LOST PROFITS, EVEN IF DEEPSEEK OR ITS AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.— Excerpt from DeepSeek's DeepSeek Open Source License
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Broad liability exclusion clauses of this type may interact with consumer protection law in the EU (including the EU AI Act's liability provisions for high-risk AI systems), UK consumer rights frameworks, and US state consumer protection statutes. Where the model is used in a high-risk AI context as defined by the EU AI Act, mandatory liability rules may override contractual exclusions. The FTC may also evaluate blanket liability disclaimers in consumer-facing AI services. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. For enterprise deployers, the clause is common in model licenses but represents a significant risk allocation decision. Organizations deploying DeepSeek-V3 in high-stakes or regulated applications bear the full burden of consequential losses from model failures. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU licensees should assess whether the EU AI Act's liability framework overrides this exclusion for high-risk AI system deployments. UK licensees should evaluate the clause under the Unfair Contract Terms Act and Consumer Rights Act. California licensees should review the clause under state consumer protection statutes. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Organizations deploying DeepSeek-V3 in commercial products should ensure their own terms of service appropriately address liability allocation with end users, and should not assume DeepSeek's liability exclusion passes through to their customer relationships. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should assess whether their deployment context triggers mandatory liability provisions under the EU AI Act or other applicable regulations that may supersede this contractual exclusion, and document that analysis in product governance records.
Full compliance analysis
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Monitor: 25 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.
Compliance Governance Intelligence
Need to monitor specific governance provisions?
Compliance includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.
Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.
This clause limits the categories of damages a licensee can recover from DeepSeek in the event the model causes harm, excluding consequential and indirect damages, which are often the most significant losses in AI-related failures.
The agreement states that DeepSeek's liability is limited to direct damages only, excluding consequential and indirect losses, which means that organizations or individuals harmed by model failures may have limited contractual recourse for downstream financial or operational losses. Applicable law in certain jurisdictions may limit the enforceability of broad liability exclusions of this type.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 266 platforms. See the full comparison.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by DeepSeek.