Instacart · Instacart Terms of Service · View original document ↗

Prohibition on AI Competitive Use of Outputs

Medium severity Unique · 0 of 343 platforms
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Document Record

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.

This analysis describes what Instacart'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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

The clause establishes a contractual restriction on downstream use of service outputs for AI model development or competitive purposes. This defines the scope of permissible use beyond the primary service and establishes liability exposure for violations of the specified use restrictions.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

Medium May 9, 2026

Instacart rewrote its entire Terms of Service, adding 367 new sentences including sections on AI-powered services, updated arbitration procedures, and revised data handling practices. The restructuring makes it harder to compare what changed because the entire document was reorganized.

View change record →

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.

How other platforms handle this

Netflix Medium

engage in any of the foregoing in connection with the use, creation, development, modification, prompting, fine-tuning, training, testing, benchmarking or validation of any machine learning tool, model, system, algorithm, product or other technology.

Teachable Medium

You agree not to post, upload, publish, submit or transmit any content that: (i) infringes, misappropriates or violates a third party's patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy; (ii) violates, or encourages any ...

Wise Medium

You may not use our Services for any illegal purpose or in violation of any laws or regulations. You may not use the Services to send money to sanctioned countries or individuals on government watchlists. You may not use the Services for gambling, illegal drugs, weapons, or any other prohibited acti...

See all platforms with this clause type →

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
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).

— Excerpt from Instacart's Instacart Terms of Service

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance 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)

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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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 →

Applicable regulations

CFAA
United States Federal

Provision details

Document information
Document
Instacart Terms of Service
Entity
Instacart
Document last updated
May 5, 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
Content hash (SHA-256)
30a1ef722ca2f269aa634194339403244ed9043a7522c96cae21a5329951e4c8
Analysis generated
April 18, 2026 12:44 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Instacart
Document: Instacart Terms of Service
Record ID: 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: June 18, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Instacart's Prohibition on AI Competitive Use of Outputs clause do?

The clause establishes a contractual restriction on downstream use of service outputs for AI model development or competitive purposes. This defines the scope of permissible use beyond the primary service and establishes liability exposure for violations of the specified use restrictions.

How does this clause affect you?

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.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Instacart?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Instacart.