Instacart · Instacart Terms of Service

Prohibition on AI Competitive Use of Outputs

Medium severity
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What it is

You are prohibited from using anything you get from Instacart — including AI-generated outputs or search results — to build, train, or improve any AI model or competing service, even for non-commercial or research purposes.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

This restriction limits how you can use information you receive from Instacart's platform, potentially affecting researchers, developers, and journalists — and creates legal exposure for any user who unknowingly uses Instacart data in AI-adjacent work.

Cross-platform context

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

This clause restricts not just commercial competitors but also academic researchers, open source developers, and journalists from using Instacart's platform outputs for any AI-related work, which is an unusually broad restriction compared to industry norms.

View original clause language
You further agree that you will not use the Services or any information contained therein or obtained therefrom, including any output or other information derived from the Services, to directly or indirectly create, train, test, or improve any machine learning, large language, or artificial intelligence models, or similar or competing product, service, or technology (including for research purposes, open source, or other non-commercial use).

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: Implicates contract law enforceability questions under the First Amendment (restrictions on use of publicly available information), potential conflict with fair use doctrine (17 U.S.C. §107), and antitrust considerations under Sherman Act §2 if the restriction is used to foreclose competitive market participation. The explicit prohibition on 'open source or other non-commercial use' and 'research purposes' is notable and may face enforceability challenges. (2)

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority to review potentially anticompetitive or unfair trade practices, including overly broad contractual restrictions on information use that may harm competition or innovation.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Instacart Terms of Service
Entity
Instacart
Document last updated
April 29, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 18, 2026
Last verified
April 27, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-003408
Document ID
CA-D-00135
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
30a1ef722ca2f269aa634194339403244ed9043a7522c96cae21a5329951e4c8
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Instacart | Document: Instacart Terms of Service | Record: CA-P-003408
Captured: 2026-04-18 12:44:42 UTC | SHA-256: 30a1ef722ca2f269…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/instacart/instacart-terms-of-service/prohibition-on-ai-competitive-use-of-outputs/
Accessed: May 2, 2026
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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